My Dad Peter
by colakirk
Summary: Sequel to My Son Neal. Neal is forced to attend therapy by his parents. Warning: Contains spanking. Don't like, please don't read.
1. Chapter 1

**Warning: This ****AU**** fic looks at dealing with death, therapy and contains spanking of a teenager so if any of these issues are a concern, please do not read.**

**Author's Note: **I will be away for five days at Easter at a place that doesn't have internet access so please be warned that there will be no updates during that time. In other words, angry reviews asking 'Where the hell is the next chapter?' are not allowed! LOL You've been warned! :) Besides, what would the family say if I told them I couldn't go on holidays with them because I'd much rather stay at home to finish my story?

This is a sequel to the fic My Son Neal so many parts will not make sense if you are unfamiliar with that story. And while on the topic, I had never intended on writing a sequel and consequently used up all my good ideas for this already. But then, some really sweet people made several requests for the story to be continued and well, who could refuse them? So, this has been written especially for the sweet sequel seekers. Enjoy! I hope!

**My Dad Peter**

"Have a seat, Neal." Janice always asked but in all the time the young boy had been coming to see her, he never had. For sure he'd sit on the arm of the couch, lean against the back of the couch or even slouch the length of the head rest, sometimes he'd lounge on the plush rug between her chair and the couch, occasionally he'd sit on the window sill, and once he even sat in her desk chair and spun around in circles. But in six weeks, he had never once put his butt on the couch that was designated for all her clients. And today was no exception. The young boy paced around her office like he was warming up for a long distance race. "Neal?"

"Yes, Janice?" Always such an indignant tone. He only got away with it because he knew that whatever he said, however he acted, remained in this room. "How long till you get your cast off?"

"You know Janice you ask me that same question every week and the answer hasn't changed...Well, actually, no, that's wrong. It changes every week. It's actually a week less than the answer I gave you seven days ago."

Oh, how the boy hated answering any question directly. "So, that would be two weeks to go?"

"Correct. I may not be able to come in that week. I might be too busy having my cast taken off." The boy actually looked hopeful like there really may be a chance he wouldn't have to come.

"Neal, I want you to have a seat now please."

"Fine." The boy sat down on the floor in front of the couch and leaned back so his head was on the seat.

"Are you still having nightmares?"

"No. I'm all good. Sleep like a baby. Feel better than I ever had."

Janice knew from Neal's mom that it was far from the truth. The kid was continuing to wake up every other night either screaming, or in a ball of sweat and that hadn't changed in the past week. "That's very pleasing to hear."

"So you can sign me off?" From out of nowhere, Neal produced a blue piece of paper instantly recognisable to Janice as the forms her office used to clear clients of mental health issues purely related to return to work procedures.

The first week, well you couldn't really call it the first week because she never actually made any contact with the boy, the first week Neal had forged a copy of the release form saying he wasn't suffering any ill effects of a recent ordeal and he would no longer be required to attend any sessions. The young boy's scam fell through the following day when Elizabeth Burke had called to say thank you but at the same time was a little confused and surprised to learn that his issues had been resolved so easily. Janice had responded by saying that her office had received a phone call from Peter Burke, the day before the appointment saying sorry for the inconvenience but that his son would no longer be requiring the assistance of her office.

The following week, Janice had not been at all surprised when Peter personally walked his son in, standing him before Janice and informing the doctor he would wait for the boy out in the reception waiting room.

Every week since, Neal had produced the sign off form in the hopes of being released from 'this ridiculous waste of time and resources'. Neal's contempt at being forced to attend therapy sessions was blatantly obvious.

Janice ignored the blue form and continued with the session. "Just because your nightmares have stopped, doesn't mean we still don't need to talk a few things through."

"What things?" Neal stretched his legs out across the rug, his feet just about touching Janice's shoes.

"Well you still haven't told me how you broke your wrist?"

"You know how I broke my wrist, Janice." The tone was dripping with insolence.

"I want '_you'_ to tell me what happened?"

"Look Janice. I have a plan. How about next week I bring a good book to read, I'll sit on your couch for an hour and you can catch up on some paper work. It's a win, win. You still get paid, my parents can rest easy knowing I'm 'getting help' and I no longer have to think of creative ways to not answer any of your questions. What do you think about that for a plan?"

"Neal," Janice leaned forward so her face was right in the boy's personal space. "You can tell me today, or you can tell me a year from now, but the longer you take to start talking to me, the more times you'll have to come. You're a smart boy so connect the dots and then work out for yourself which plan is going to be in your best interest. I'm a very patient person, Neal. Take your time working it out."

Neal glared at Janice. Crap this was such a waste of time. For sure he was still having nightmares but during the day he was fine. Almost fine. He didn't think the flashbacks were too much of a concern. They'd go away sooner or later and besides, he'd stopped shaking for no reason, pretty much. So instead of being outside, enjoying doing just about anything else, one hour every week he had to suffer through this preposterous exercise. Where was the justice in it? Shouldn't he just be allowed to tell the doctor that he didn't want the help? Wasn't he intelligent enough to decide if he would benefit from therapy sessions? Didn't his parents trust him enough to allow him to make up his own mind? For sure they hadn't been at all happy that first week when he had forged the form and had Mozzie ring up pretending to be Peter. They certainly had something to say about that! But what had they expected him to do, just sit back and play along.

Then again, perhaps he should just play along. Janice appeared to have patience in spades and her point seemed to make sense. If he didn't start playing ball, this game could go on forever. Neal took a deep breath and sighed. "Look. It's a long story and I wouldn't really know where to start."

"Okay, let's start from the beginning."

"The beginning of what? The beginning of this session. The beginning of this week? The beginning of my life? Throw me a bone, Janice. The beginning of…?" Neal held out his hand, palm up, gesturing for the doctor to give him some type of clue.

"Alright Neal. Start small. Start from the beginning of this year. That was six months ago. Tell me something that happened at the start of the year. What did you get up to during the first couple of weeks in January? Anything you can remember?"

Neal chuckled but it was void of humour. "Yes Janice. I can do one better. I can tell you exactly what happened in the first hour of this year."

"Okay. That's a perfect place to start. I'm impressed Neal. I think I'd have a hard time remembering what I was doing six months ago with that kind of accuracy. That's pretty impressive?"

"It's kind of hard to forget, Janice. The first hour of this year I was busy getting my butt kicked."

"By whom?"

"My dad, Peter."


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's note:** Oh how I love the sight of reviews in the morning! :) Now I remember why I enjoy posting stories so much. Your reviews feed my obsession!

Also, a quick plug. My new favourite site is The FanFiction Exchange Program so kindly set up by Kinky_Sprite. This great Fic for a Fic site can be found at .com/the_ff_exchange/ Please have a look.

**MY DAD PETER PART 2**

"Hey Jerry. Come for a walk." Neal nodded towards the front door.

Jerry Watson reluctantly dragged himself away for the fine spread of savouries and sweet treats and followed his young friend out into the front yard.

"What's up, man?"

"Check this out." Neal spoke quietly, not that he would have been heard above the rowdy festivities coming from within the home. Not less than fifteen minutes ago, the party guests had raised their glasses to a Happy New Year and wrapped arms around each other for a jubilant rendition of Auld Lang Syne. There'd been lots of cheering, kissing, hugging and alcohol. Of course, the alcohol was supposedly for adults only even though Neal had managed to sneak a number of sips of champagne since his arrival. He was feeling pretty happy, but then, why wouldn't he be?

Jerry looked down as Neal popped the boot of Peter's Taurus and revealed a small bag of sky rockets. "Awesome, man! Where'd you get those?"

"Ah, I have a friend who knows a friend. They're heavy duty rockets. Can't get them here." Neal was excited that Jerry looked suitably impressed. "You want to give them a whirl?"

"Really?" Jerry's response showed that he wasn't sure if he wanted to or not.

"Yeah. Come on. We need to find the perfect launch pad."

The two boys traipsed around the yard for a while before realizing there really wasn't any spot that would allow the rockets to be shot off without hitting one of the branches of the large oak trees surrounding the house. "Looks like we'll have to head to the park." Neal decided.

"No can do, man." Jerry said matter-of-factly. "I'd have to check with Mum or Dad and they'd want to know why."

"Seriously, Jer? You're going to fire off some illegal firecrackers and you're telling me we can't go because you have to ask permission to go to the park?" He grinned up at his friend. Neal may have been the older of the two but Jerry was at least a head taller. "Is that line of thinking missing some kind of logic that I'm oblivious to?"

"Look. It's after midnight. I can't go taking off without asking first. Sorry if my parents aren't as easy going as yours!" Jerry was beginning to get upset.

Neal hadn't meant to upset his friend. "Sorry, Bud. I guess mine wouldn't let me leave either." _Nor would they let me fire these rockets but that doesn't seem to be the problem here._ "Why don't we look for another place around the yard?"

"Sure." Jerry followed Neal and his bag of tricks.

Before too long, the boys found themselves, thanks to a rickety old garden trellis, up on the roof. Jerry wasn't too sure but Neal assured him that even if the party goers inside heard the sky rockets, they wouldn't be able to tell which direction they had been fired from.

Jerry reluctantly stood the first rocket on the small flat surface at the top of the chimney. It had been a brilliant idea! Neal lit the tape and both boys backed away. The rocket ignited and with one enormous hissing sound and a great vibration that would do a jet fighter proud, the firecracker headed high into the night sky.

Both boys held their hands over their ears. The sound was particularly painful. "Fuck, Neal! Is it supposed to be that loud?"

Inside the house below, no one had missed the thunderous roar. "What the hell!" The small group of adults bolted outside to the back patio and then into the yard. Looking skywards they followed the smoke stream back to the roof of the house. Peter narrowed his eyes, not able to see any sign of danger but knowing full well that trouble could only lead back to one place, his son. He looked at David before shouting up to the roof top, "Neal, get your butt down here right now!"

Neal shook his head at Jerry. _Crap. This was not how it was supposed to happen._ The two boys held their position on the far side of the pitched roof, out of visual range of the posse standing on the lawn below. Jerry looked pale. "What now, friend?"

"Okay. If we stay for a little while longer, they'll begin to have doubts that we're up here. We'll wait a little while and then go down this side and return through the front door saying we went to wish the neighbours across the street a Happy New Year."

"Oh come on. Do you really think they'll fall for that?" Jerry's hushed whispers were increasing in volume.

"Shhh!" Neal put a finger to his lips. "No they don't need to. That's the beauty of it. We just have to plant a little doubt and then they'll have second thoughts themselves and go back to enjoying the night."

Jerry nodded a little, thinking that it might just work when suddenly both boys heard very clearly a number being shouted up from below. "One!" It was Jerry's father, Agent David Watson.

"Oh that's just great."

"Calm down, Bud." Neal placed a reassuring hand on Jerry's thigh. "He's just covering his bases. We can still go with our plan."

"Two!"

"I don't know Neal." Jerry began to look around nervously and then his eyes went suddenly wide and he pointed to the bag of remaining fireworks. "Fuck Neal!" Jerry shouted, standing up and revealing their location as if his shouting hadn't given it away already.

Neal was about to curse Jerry when he also noticed the fireworks bag which was now very much alight. "Far Out! Jer, we need to split." He grabbed his friend's arm and yanked him over the pitched roof, forgetting for a moment that they were a couple dozen feet above the ground. Jerry slipped and lost balance and began sliding down the side of the roof fast. Neal still had a hold of Jerry's arm so he was pulled over and was now sliding down the roof head first. In all the commotion neither boy heard David's 'Three' or El or Sally's screams, or the second sky rocket igniting and heading off into a north-westerly direction.

As Jerry approached the edge of the roof, he found himself to be in a better position than Neal. Jerry was going to come off the roof feet first. He was even able to grab some of the guttering on the way over to slow his decent and he managed to hit the ground and do a commando type roll without too much pain to his legs or body. Neal, on the other hand had been pulled down head first and on the slippery surface was unable to slow himself down and had no other option than to make his way over the side of the roof, head first. He braced himself for what was certain to be a very painful head injury when he came in contact with the ground. But instead of smashing into the yard, he collided instead with his dad who made a stellar effort to catch the boy. Peter managed to brace the fall with his own body and the two of them came crashing to the ground together. Peter got the wind knocked out of him and Neal felt a pain go through a wrist that had slapped onto the lawn with quite a punch, but it looked like they both avoided serious injury. The teenager didn't know if that was good luck or not! Neal smiled at his father, hoping to lighten the moment. "Hey, Dad. Thought I'd drop in!"

If Peter hadn't been fighting to suck air back into his lungs he would have had something to say about the smart comment but instead, he rolled the boy off his body and clambered to his feet. David, El, Jerry's mom, Sally and a few of the other guests ran over to make sure everyone was okay. After the all clear was given, most of the guests returned to the house, leaving Neal and Jerry to face two very angry fathers. David and Peter were about to issue the riot act but were rudely interrupted by yet another sky rocket igniting.

"How many more?" Peter growled.

"Maybe just one?" Neal grinned. Now was not the time for grinning but the silly boy never knew when to call it a day.

"What were you both thinking?" David shouted.

"We didn't think, sir." Jerry lowered his head, unable to look his father in the face.

_Speak for yourself._ "We were just bringing a little festive spirit to the party. What's a New Year's celebration without a sky rocket or two?" Perfect timing, the last of the rockets shot off, directly up and left a brilliant trail across the night sky.

"Where did the rockets come from?" Peter knew they weren't your run of the mill, over the counter type. He could have guessed the answer to his own question, _the good ole Russian Military Surplus Supply Store?_

"I brought them over." Neal was very non-pulsed by the situation. "I bought them through the week especially for tonight."

Peter sighed. "Neal I don't even know where to begin, so I'm not even going to bother. Wait for me inside please."

Neal looked shocked. _Why? What for? It wasn't that big a deal_. If he had felt in the slightest bit brave after seeing the stern look on Peter's face, he may have voiced his thoughts but he did have a little sense after all so he turned on his heels and marched inside the house.

David looked angrily at his own son. "Jerry, I'm so disappointed with you right now. You can go to your room. The party's over for you."

"Yes, sir." Jerry, shoulders hunched, followed in the footsteps of his mischievous friend.

"I'm sorry, Dave." Peter shook his head. "It's so damn hard staying one step ahead of the kid. It's like a new surprise around every corner."

Dave patted his friend on the back. "Don't be too hard on yourself, Peter. Despite the seriousness of the situation, this stunt does appear to be the work of juveniles. You don't have to think back too long ago to remember a time when you would have wished this was the worse thing your kid got up to. He has come a long way."

There was a certain logic to David's way of looking at this latest incident and Peter found himself calming down. "Thanks Dave. But I am sorry about what just happened. Please don't hold Jerry too accountable. For sure Neal was the mastermind of this little operation."

"Maybe." David shrugged. "But Jerry is fourteen years old and he knows how to say no. No one dragged him up to the roof."

"Fair enough." Peter began to move back towards the house. "Would you mind if I borrowed a spare room for ten minutes while Neal and I have a little chat?"

David chuckled. He'd be having to have a similar conversation with Jerry once all his guests left for the night. "Sure, whichever one you want. The study is just down the hall."

"Thanks, Dave."

David stopped inside the back door and reclaimed his beer which he'd deposited very hastily on his way out to investigate the noise. He found a group of happy souls and got back in the swing of the party. Peter continued on through to the small living area at the front where he found his troublesome charge sitting in an oversized armchair, dangling his leg over one of the arms. The boy dropped his leg and watched with wide eyes as Peter walked over and grabbed him by his upper arm. "Dad?"

Peter didn't have anything to say as he guided his son down the hall and into the study. The older man pulled Neal in and turned to lock the door. "Listen, Dad. We wanted to get a great launch position. It wasn't that high up," Neal continued to justify while Peter simply ignored the young boy and took a position on the couch, his grip never leaving the teenager's arm. "We didn't know they'd be as powerful as they were. I'm even surprised you heard them from inside." Neal stopped pleading his case for a moment and tried to tug his arm out of Peter's vice grip. "Dad, please. I won't bring fireworks to a party ever again."

"I'm glad to hear that, Neal." Peter pulled on the boys arm and easily lifted him up and over his lap.

"Dad, pleassssssse. I know I shouldn't have taken Jerry up on the roof. It was dangerous and I won't ever do anything that careless again."

"I'm also very relieved to hear that."

"Dad?" The panic had disappeared from the young boy's voice like he had finally accepted the consequences.

"Yeah?"

Almost. One last try. "Please."

Peter lifted his arm and brought a very firm hand down onto the young boy's backside. Neal gave up on the begging and grabbed a hold a cushion lying next to his head and buried his face. Maybe he could salvage this a little by not allowing any cries or yelps to escape to the party goers still enjoying the first hour of the New Year. Something, he clearly was not. His dad continued to rain down swat after swat after swat. He would have pleaded for him to stop but what would have been the point. Peter would continue the spanking until he was certain he'd gotten a very firm message across. _Happy New Year to you Neal_, the kid thought to himself while at the same time hoping it wasn't an ominous sign of the year to come.


	3. Chapter 3

"So, are you and Jerry still friends?"

Neal stopped fiddling with his bag strap and looked up to question the doctor. "Yeah. Why wouldn't we be?"

"Oh, I don't know. Maybe because you got him in trouble. Maybe because you took the fireworks, talked him into going on the roof. Maybe…"

"Way to make a guy feel good about himself, Janice. Do you have you had an actual psychiatrist degree or am I a part of your training?"

"Fine, I get it. You and Jerry are still good buddies…What does Jerry think of Kate?"

Neal shrugged and got up to pace the floor again. Any mention of Kate would do that.

"Neal?"

"What?"

"What does Jerry think of Kate?"

"I don't know."

"You've never asked him?"

"Jerry likes Eleana."

"Eleana?"

"Yeah. Eleana and Emmy Enricoh. They're twins in Jerry's class at school. Eleana is very close to her sister, probably too close. She wants to do everything with Emmy so it's a bit of a problem because, Jerry keeps wanting to go out with Eleana but she always brings Emmy. You see the problem…?"

"Jerry keeps asking you to be his wing-man to even up the numbers?"

Neal stopped pacing and smiled at the doctor. "Maybe you're not too far off the end of your training after all, Janice."

"Do you like Emmy?"

Neal shrugged. "She's great. Real sweet. I like being around her."

"So why not go out with her? What does a fourteen year old do for a date these days? Back in my day, we'd go down to the local café for a couple of sodas or ice-creams. Sometimes catch a movie with a group of friends. What's the trend nowadays?"

Neal sat on the arm of the couch and folded his arms pretending to be deep in thought. "Oh gee, let me see?" He held up a finger and tapped his lips as part of the act. "First we'd download a good porn movie from the internet. Then we'd meet up with our local dealer on the street corner and get our fix. Of course, we'd have to knock over a convenience store before hand so we could pay the dealer. Then we'd stop at the pharmacy to get some protection, no point in adding to our burdens and then we'd wait till our parents were away for the weekend before breaking open the hard liquor and switching on the hard rock on our MP3s." Neal grinned at Janice, waiting for a reaction.

Janice tilted her head to one side and smiled back. "Neal, I've been around for a long time. I can pretty much guarantee you there isn't anything you could say that would put me off. Play all the games you want but don't think for a second that every time you open your mouth, I don't get even just a little more insight into what's going on in that head of yours. Plus," Janice leaned a little closer and used her motherly tone, "I'm so happy to hear that you use protection. Too many young people today are way too casual when it comes to unprotected sex."

Neal felt his face begin to blush so he looked down to avoid the embarrassment. He began to play with the cast on his wrist. The cast had originally been white, but it was now adorned with brightly coloured drawings and messages.

"So Neal. How did you break your wrist?"

Neal checked the clock then signed heavily. "Fine. Anything to make you happy Janice. Kate gave me a lift home one afternoon after we'd spent a couple of hours checking out the Late European Post Impressionists Exhibit at the Met. Kate had all these heavy folders on the floor of the car, on the passenger's side where I was sitting. I had to hold my feet up to my chest all the way back." Neal demonstrated by pulling his feet up while still perched on the arm of the couch. "Anyway, we pulled up at my house and I was about to get out when I remembered my half eaten donut. Kate had bought it for me and it would have been pretty insulting to just leave it in the car so here I am, on my way out, I spun to grab my donut and that's when it happened. As I moved to hop back out again, my foot snags on a couple of the heavy folders and I end up falling out of the car head first. Instinct took over and I used my hand to stop my head from hitting the bitumen. And there you have it." Neal held up his plastered wrist.

"Sound like it could have been a lot worse."

"Oh I don't believe that. It's a Colles fracture and it's been a real pain in the…it hurts." The teenager made his way to the office door. "My hours up, Janice. It's been real. Same time next week?" Neal had his hand on the door knob.

"Actually Neal, I've asked your dad to bring you back in two days. I think it's time we stepped up the sessions. I'd like to start wrapping things up."

"Nooooooooo." Neal groaned out way too dramatically and collapsed on his knees.

"Yes. See you then."

-W-C-

"You still having the dream, Peter?"

"…Yeah." Peter sighed deeply, leant forward resting his elbows on his thighs and rubbed his face once over the palms of his hands. "You making any progress with Neal?"

"We all move forward, Peter. It's whether it's positive or in the direction we need it to take us. That being said, he's having his cast off in two weeks so that gives me a time frame." Janice made another note in her book. "So tell me, has the dream changed?"

"No. Some nights it's more vivid than others but it's always the same plot and always has the same ending."

"Does it affect you in any way during the day?"

"A little. Apart from being a bit more tired than normal, sometimes I have these," Peter waved his arm in the air looking for the right word, "moments where I zone out and start felling as though I'm in the middle of the dream again."

"That's a fairly common side effect." Janice removed her glasses and waited till the agent made eye contact. "Peter, have you considered that the issues you're having now may be related to the incident from last winter?"

The agent shook his head. "No. This is completely separate. That business with Keller is over with, permanently. I sorted that out way back then."

"Peter, you put a bullet through the head of a guy who held a gun to your son and you're seriously trying to tell me that the compulsory one hour spent with the Fed Therapist has cured you of any influence on your mental state for the rest of your life?"

"Well…yeah…that's what I'm…Look. I'm good. It's no longer a problem for me. In fact, it never was!" Janice was missing the point and didn't really understand. How could she? "I don't have any issues with that, I dealt with already. I dealt with it in my own head, I dealt with Keller and… I dealt with Neal." Peter became lost in thought.

"You dealt with Neal?" Janice checked her notes. "As far as I knew, Neal had very little recollection of the event. He's all but blocked it out of his memory."

"Neal's pretty good at the ole selective amnesia thing," Peter scoffed. Janice didn't comment while she waited patiently for Peter to answer her question. "Yeah, that's what I meant. I made sure he was over it and then I was able to move on."

"So in other words," Janice flipped a few pages in her notebook and referred to some additional notes, "After finding out that he couldn't really recall much of what happened with Keller, you happily brushed aside the fact that he stole a gun from you, accosted one of your agents, went alone to a warehouse full of criminals and fired a gun at someone who was threatening to kill you."

"In a nutshell, yeah." Peter didn't smile. He never smiled with Janice. Always too serious.

"And you don't think your worries now could be connected to a very real possibility that had you sorted through the issues thoroughly after the Keller incident, you may have been able to avoid what you're both going through now?"

Peter shook his head slowly. "No Janice, I don't _think_ that." The agent rubbed at his temples while Janice looked expectantly for an answer. "I tried. A week after the incident, I picked Neal up from the park on the way home, fully intending on discussing his 'inappropriate behaviour.'" Janice raised her eyebrows at the term but Peter just shrugged. "He seemed to be doing alright so I thought it was probably the right time to talk about what happened. But when we pulled up outside the house, Neal put his hand on my arm and it was shaking. I asked him what was wrong, thinking of course that it had something to do with the punishment he was probably expecting, but apart from the shaking, he also had this frightened look in his eyes which was totally out of character. He looked at me and asked if I knew how long Keller would be going away for. Well, that totally threw me for a six. I just assumed he was fully aware of what happened."

"How did you respond?"

"I told him that he would never have to worry about Keller again. So we didn't discuss anything when we got in the house and later that night when I came up to his room to say goodnight, he was already asleep, looking so much like a child without a care in the world. Satchmo, his dog, was resting on the end of his bed and he' dropped the book he must have been reading on the floor. It all seemed so normal, I didn't want to do anything to ruin the moment.

Instead, I rang a friend of mine, Dr Andrew Bryant to discuss what Neal had said about Keller and he said it was most likely a residual affect of the shock and that it would all come back to him in his own good time. He also suggested," Peter appeared slightly embarrassed but continued, "that we take Neal to a therapist to monitor his mental state."

"Which you didn't?"

"No. Neal didn't bring it up again and… you know what they say about not waking a sleeping baby."

"Yes, I know." Janice closed up her book and sat it to the side. "So I guess I have to ask, did you know Neal was still in contact with Kate?"

Peter nodded. "Kate would write to him ever week like clockwork. They weren't hard to miss, the letters were clearly marked Department of Corrections." Janice almost detected a slight grin on the agents face. "The funny part was that the letter always arrived on a Thursday."

"Neal's late day at school."

"Yeah. Ironic wasn't it. The one day he can't get home before us to filter the mail, Kate sends him a letter." Peter got lost in his thoughts, remembering. "Every week."

"Did you open them?"

"Of course not." Peter snapped out of his trance and shot a glare at Janice.

"Tempted."

"Hell yeah.

"So every week like clockwork?"

"Yes. Every Thursday and then one week… they just stopped."


	4. Chapter 4

Neal opened the internal front door to the unmistakeable aroma of curry waffling in from the kitchen. His stomach grumbled, he was starving. Placing his satchel on the bottom stair tread he turned just in time to ready himself as Satchmo came running up for a cuddle and a scratch behind the ears. "Hey Satch, you miss me boy?" Neal hopped up and walked through the living room pausing to give his dad a kiss on the head as he walked past.

"How was MoMA son?"

"Just awesome, Dad. They've got a new show with this amazing artist who has used papier-mâché sculpture to describe the environmental landscape of NYC."

"Sounds thrilling."

"No need to feign interest, Dad." Neal shot over his shoulder as he began to shift though the mail on the sideboard. "This all of it?"

"All of what?" El came out of the kitchen carrying a steaming hot dish of curried beef. "How are you Baby?" As soon as her hands were free she reached out and kissed her son on his cheek.

"Not too bad, Mom. Where's the rest of the mail?"

"That's it Neal. I got it out of the box myself."

"But my letter isn't here."

"What letter?" El removed her apron and laid it across the back of one of the dining chairs.

"Let me see Mom." Neal's tone deteriorated into condescending with lighting speed. "It's a letter. Addressed to me. Am I making any sense? Neal let out a frustrated sigh. "No?" Well just forget it." The teenager turned on his heals ready to storm out but was stopped in his tracks when he ploughed straight into Peter who had managed to appear from nowhere.

"Neal," The agent was clearly upset. "Were you just being disrespectful to your mother?"

The boy wasn't paying any attention. "Someone took my letter, Peter."

And there it was. El always got Mam'ma whenever Neal was riding an emotional wave of sorts, and he always got… just Peter. "That's not what I asked Neal. Were you being disrespectful to your mother?"

"You're not listening, Peter. My letter isn't here!" The kid had begun to raise his voice.

"Okay Neal. We've got that. You're letter from Kate isn't here. We didn't take it. Calm down."

Neal ignored the advice and pushed past Peter.

"Where do you think you're going?"

"My room. I'm not hungry." The kid didn't even bother turning around to answer.

"Neal."

"What!" He stopped at the base of the stairs.

Peter walked up and stood firmly in his personal space. "Firstly," he held up his finger and thumb almost touching, "you're this close to having my hand make an imprint on your behind. Secondly, your mom has dinner on the table so sit your butt down now." He pointed back towards the table, waiting.

Neal stood defiantly in front of his dad, not prepared to give in, consequences be damned! Peter recognised the look, grabbed the boy by his upper arm and wacked him hard, three times across his backside. He pointed to the table again, and this time the teenager got the message. Neal stepped back towards the table, pulled out a chair, gave his butt a quick rub then sat down quickly to put it out of harms way.

El and Peter joined their boy at the table and began to serve themselves in silence, perhaps a little shell shocked from the unexpected performance they'd just witnessed.

After a moment or two, Neal broke into their thoughts. "Mam'ma?"

"Yes?"

Neal reached across and took his mom's hand. "Excusez-moi d'être impoli envers vous. Je suis désolé."

El squeezed her son's hand. "Apology accepted Baby Seal. Now just don't do it again, please."

"No Mam'ma."

El served up a small helping for Neal once she noticed he wasn't going to help himself. "You want some sauce, Baby."

"No thank you."

Peter started in on his meal and between mouthfuls he offered an explanation. "Neal, you know that sometimes the mail gets delayed. Your letter might arrive tomorrow."

Neal didn't answer and didn't bother picking up his fork. His meal remained untouched. "May I be excused?" He looked hopefully towards his dad.

"No you may not." Peter pointed his fork at the plate of food. "Eat your dinner."

"Fine." Neal picked up his fork and played with his food, only managing a couple of mouthfuls in the time his parents took to completely finish their meals. He tried again. "May I be excused?"

Peter sighed deeply before consenting with a nod.

Neal picked up his plate and took it out to the kitchen. When El heard the sounds of the dishwasher being packed and the kitchen being cleaned she reached behind to the sideboard and picked a notebook and pen off the pile of paperwork. El wrote down a message and then turned the book to face Peter. 'What's going on?'

Peter wrote back. 'Not certain but it's going to stop.'

The very next afternoon, before Peter had a chance to put a stop to it…

"Peter!"

The agent hung his jacket and placed his briefcase on the ground bracing himself for round two. "Yes, Neal."

The young boy stormed over to his dad holding a small pile of mail. "Where is it?"

"Where's what Neal?" Didn't they do this dance already? Peter took the letters off his son and flipped through them.

"You said it would come today!" The young boy's anger was far from contained. Like it had been building for…What time did school finish on a Friday?

"No, Neal." Peter continued walking through to the kitchen. "I said it may have got delayed and it MAY arrive today." Peter selected a beer from the fridge. If he hadn't felt like one earlier, for sure he did now!

"I need to ring her."

"Kate?"

"No, The First Lady!" Neal's face was red and his fists were balled. He was losing control fast.

Peter left his beer on the table and dragged the young boy into the living room by his wrist. He pushed him into a chair and sat down across from him, while at the same time, trying to rein in his own temper that was beginning to surface fast."

"Neal. You can't just call someone up in prison. It's not like she's allowed a mobile phone in her cell. To contact someone in prison, you can write letters or visit. They are the only two choices. Now you've been writing letters to Kate but in retrospect that seems like it wasn't such a good idea. You need to move on Neal. You have some good friends here. Jerry and those two girls he's always hanging around. They're your age Neal. It's what a fourteen year old is supposed to do. Plus, and I don't want to endorse this particular relationship, but Mozzie is also a very good friend. I want you to forget about Kate, please. For your own good."

Neal remained silent in his seat, while his temper continued to boil. Then, in an action that completely rocked Peter, the young kid jumped up swiping an innocent vase off the coffee table, smashing it all over the floor, sending shards of glass in every direction. Peter was slow to react, his brain desperately trying to sort out the mess unravelling before his very eyes. Neal had taken a few steps towards the back door before Peter caught up and grabbed his arm. But the teenager just yanked it back out again, accidently swiping the full bottle of beer off the dining table in the process. Glass once again shattered across the floor. Peter noticed his boy was in bare feet and made another grab for the arm. "Neal! Calm down!"

"Leave! Me! Alone!" The teenager was almost hysterical and Peter asked himself how the hell this had all happened in the short time since he'd arrived home from work. _What_ _was it with Kate? _Neal began to swing his arms and legs wildly in all directions and at any moment he was going to be stamping on the broken glass.

Peter's FBI training kicked in and because, unfortunately for Neal, the agent hadn't been at the warehouse when Keller slammed the young boys head onto the table, Peter had no idea he was opening old wounds. It was a simple procedure he'd been taught at the Bureau to subdue out of control suspects. If Neal continued, he was going to end up harming himself so he grabbed a hold of one of Neal's arms and twisted it behind his back. Then he put a hand on the back of the teenager's neck and pushed gently till his head was pressed firmly on the surface of the table. He knew this manoeuvre hadn't caused Neal any additional pain and he intended to only restrain him long enough while the boy calmed down.

But Neal had been at the warehouse when it happened, and it brought back memories he'd long forgotten. Neal felt his head being pressed onto the table and he no longer remembered where he was. Was he in the warehouse with Keller? He reached up to feel the top of his head but there was no blood seeping from a wound. Why was Keller hurting him and why wasn't Kate putting a stop to it? He gave up trying to break free and relented to accepting his fate. He could hear a voice from above but had no idea what they were saying. It was taking all his strength to control the tremors that were threatened to take over his body. It was unsuccessful. The tremors turned into full on shaking and he had no choice but to let it ride its course. He no longer felt the pressure on the back of his neck and found that his arm was also free. Was he allowed to move? He wasn't sure. His body continued to tremble as he felt himself being lifted up and carried. He found himself being wrapped in someone's arms and it felt safe. The shaking slowly subsided and he buried his face into the source of the comfort before gradually drifting into unconsciousness.

Peter sat on the couch and held his young son tight. He was relieved to feel the shaking stop but became frightened again when he realised the boy had shut down. What the hell just happened? He questioned the sleeping child. "Neal, buddy, you need to tell me what's going on." Not surprisingly, the question remained unanswered.

-W-C-

"So that's when you found out Neal's 'master plan'?"

"No."

"No?"

"No. He didn't tell me anything. He slept on my lap for ages and when he finally returned to the land of the living, he was still a little shaky so I carried him up to our room, made him comfortable and then returned downstairs to clean up the mess he'd made."

"And when he finally recovered, you were …apprehensive about revisiting the issue?"

"Something like that." Peter shook his head. "After his mini-meltdown, I contacted the Moreton Centre, where Kate was residing. One of my old co-workers, Lauren Cruz accepted the position as Centre Warden about eighteen months ago. So I contacted Lauren and asked her if she could shed some light on what was happening. She told me that as far as she knew, nothing had changed with Kate. The girl was considered a model detainee and was due for release in about six months. Lauren explained that they monitored all incoming and outgoing mail. Kate did receive weekly letters from Neal but by all appearances they were considered harmless. Of course I knew better. Between the two of them, they were capable of hiding international rocket codes on a postage stamp. I asked Lauren to keep an eye out for anything out of the ordinary but in hindsight, I should have sent her a photo of Neal and told her to put him on the no visitor list."

"May not have stopped it."

"I think we both know that's not true."


	5. Chapter 5

"How are you feeling this morning, Neal?"

"Just peachy, Janice. And you?"

The kid was sitting inside the window sill. Had his feet popped up and his forehead was pressed to the glass. It was a fixed glass panel but still…they were twenty storeys up after all. "Neal, get down please."

"Fine." He climbed off and stood against the wall, arms folded, head down. Clearly showing his disdain at having to come twice in one week.

"What have you been up to?"

"In the last forty-eight hours?"

"Yes."

"Nothing. I've been too excited about coming back here to get my head around anything else."

"What about last night?"

"What _about_ last night?"

"Did you have a good time?"

"Yes, thank you." The boy's tone changed and a little bit of the charming child she expected was more his natural state than the petulant teenager she saw in her office, surfaced.

"Did you bring it to show me?"

"Yes ma'am." Neal gave a genuine smile and reached into his satchel that was still slung around his shoulder. Janice tried to remember a time that Neal had been without the satchel but she was pretty sure he always came with it and it never left his side. Most clients would put their bag or purse on the floor beside the couch or rest it on the seat beside them but this one kept the bag over his shoulder at all times, like a young child would a security blanket. Neal pulled out a small marble plaque. He walked over proudly and handed it Janice, then took a seat on the arm of her chair while the doctor examined the award.

Janice read the inscription…

-W-C-

"The Mary Thistlewaite Young Artist Award for outstanding achievement in the visual arts goes to…Neal Caffrey for his sculptured piece, _Forever Young_." The deputy mayor held up the plaque as the crowd gave a polite round of applause. Neal wrapped his arms around both parents before trotting up to the podium to collect his award. He shook hands with the female deputy who whispered in Neal's ear. The boy nodded before taking a hold of the mic.

"Firstly, I just want to say thank you to the Mayor's Office for providing us all with such a splendid evening. Especially the ogilvie garlic nibbles and the cracked pepper thins that went deliciously well with the Italian white wine." This elicited a mixture of laughs and applause from the guests. "Thank you to my mom and dad who support me in everything I do." Peter leaned down and asked El if she thought there was hidden message in that comment. "Je vous aime tant." He blew them a kiss. "And finally, a very special thank you to someone who has made coming to school something to look forward to, something to be proud of and has giving me something I will be able to take with me for the rest of my life. Without a doubt, Ms B has been the best teacher I've ever had. Thank you, Ms Belding." The guest cheered loudly in full support of his comment. They all loved Kelly.

Neal handed back the mic and returned to where his parents were standing. They gave their son a loving hug and then snatched the award out of his hands for a look. "Baby Seal, we're so proud of you."

"Thank you Mam'ma."

"Neal, you're amazing."

"Thanks, Dad. Thanks for pushing me into taking up a position at the school."

"Oh, I wouldn't say I pushed you, Neal."

"No, not much. Just lots of gentle persuasion."

"Lots." Both laughed at the memory. "So what's in the envelope?" Peter indicated the envelope that had been passed to him when he collected the plaque.

"Part of my prize."

"It's a check for $200." El was in the know. "Let's go have another look at your sculpture." The proud mother dragged her son across to where a crowd had gathered around Neal's work of art. Most likely to see for themselves if it qualified to be the winner. Many of the guests had some connection to one of the nominees so at most they were probably looking at it to see if they considered it to be the second best art piece in the room.

El listened in on the comments which were all very positive and gracious. And why wouldn't they be? The sculpture was a masterpiece.

Peter pulled El away from the attraction and turned her to introduce the principal who had come over to congratulate the parents. "El this is Ms Kelly Belding, Kelly this is my wife, Elizabeth."

"Pleased to finally meet you, Elizabeth."

"Pleased to meet you too, Ms Belding."

"Kelly, please."

"Kelly. I feel a little embarrassed that I haven't been up to see you earlier. I suppose I could use the excuse that I didn't want to upset the apple cart. Neal seems so happy and settled I wouldn't want my presence in any way to change that by calling in to say hello or bringing him up his lunch or..."

"Mom, you do realise I'm standing right here!" Neal's face had begun to turn a light shade of red.

Kelly turned to her star pupil and took both his hands in hers. "Darl, that was a very sweet speech you gave when you collected your award. I am so happy you're enjoying coming to school. Nothing makes a teacher happier." She leant down and kissed him on his cheek. "Oh by the way, we have a buyer for _'Forever Young'_ but you may not want to part with it now it's the winning entry."

"No, I'm good. Take the offer please."

"Sure, darl. You and your folks enjoy the rest of the evening."

-W-C-

Janice looked up at Neal who was all but lying across the top of her chair. "She's the real McCoy?"

"Yes, she is. It's a great school."

"How have you been getting on at school with your broken wrist?"

"There's a lot of theory, I have assignments to complete, plus I can still paint and draw, but no sculpture. As soon as they take the cast off I'm going to begin work on another project that Kelly and I have begun drafting ideas for."

"That's really good to hear. I see Ms Belding signed your cast." The way the boy was hanging off her chair, Janice could read the messages easily.

"Yes and she drew this picture." He pointed to an amazing little drawing that depicted a cartoon version of Neal with one arm snapped in half.

"Neal?"

"Yes, Janice."

"How did you break your wrist?"

The teenager climbed off the back of the chair and went back to leaning against the far wall where he'd taken up position earlier. After a few minutes of just staring into blank space he replied, "Kate and I went to the movies. We were going to see an earlier session but she had some work to finish up first. As we were coming out of the theatre, my eyes didn't adjust to the light fast enough and I guess it was a bit silly but I started walking backward so I could face Kate as I asked her about her favourite scene. Next thing I knew, I tripped backwards down a small set of stairs. I put out my wrist to stop myself and then, snap!... When you think about it, it could have just as easily been my head."

"You were very lucky, Neal."

"If you say so Janice."


	6. Chapter 6

"After the mini-meltdown, you stepped up your investigations into the Neal/Kate _relationship_?"

"Yes. When Kate was originally sent away, I didn't see a need to pay any more attention to the girl. Sure, I knew Neal had this thing for her, but she was like five years older and I considered it to be more like a first crush, not some full on obsession... To this day I still can't work out how it reached that level... Anyway, I needed a way to track down his movements without arousing suspicion. I had to tread carefully. If he knew I was watching over him, he would have found a way to circumvent it, so I had to be covert."

Janice looked up and raised her eyebrows.

"I planted a tracking bug." Peter shrugged. "It's what I do for a living, okay?" He suddenly became very defensive.

"Of course, Peter. It's not like you were dealing with any ordinary child."

"No, far from it. At this stage I knew he was up to something, but unfortunately I had no idea what….

-W-C-

Peter watched from the Taurus as his son emerged from a decrepit, public housing block. The place needed to be listed for demolition, if it hadn't already. He jumped out of the car and as his son rounded the corner, they all but collided.

"Dad!" Neal's heart skipped a beat and he couldn't help a startled look appearing across his face. "What are you doing here?"

"I guess the real question is, 'What are you doing here?'" Peter growled. "You're supposed to be at school."

"We were let out early today. I had the afternoon off…"

"So you decided to take a little trip around this," he waved his arm around at the undesirable surroundings, "this fair city of ours?"

"Yeah, why not. I thought I'd go for a stroll. See what's happening in this neck of the woods." Neal gave his dad a dazzling smile, which had absolutely no affect on the angry FBI agent.

"Are you wanting me to swat your backside?" Peter stood sternly with his hands on his hips, looming over the young boy.

Neal lost the smile and looked instantly mortified. "No! Why would you say that?"

"Because that's the second time you've lied to me in the last thirty seconds."

"I didn't…"

"Do you really want to add a third lie to the list?" Neal shook his head. "Because I know damn well you weren't let off early from class today. Neal, I am so far ahead of you, we're in different time zones."

Neal held up his hands in a gesture of surrender. "Fine. I skipped class so I could visit a friend."

"Does this friend have a name, a real name?"

Neal squirmed, half expecting to be whacked as he gave his reply, "To tell you the truth, I don't know his real name." He waited nervously for a moment before realising it was safe to continue. "How did you find me here? You weren't just in the neighbourhood yourself?"

Peter ignored the boy and turned back towards the car. "Let's go."

Neal followed his dad across the road and reached for the handle as they arrived at the Taurus. But Peter didn't unlock the vehicle, instead he walked over to the railings on the footpath, overlooking the river below. The agent put his arms on the barrier and dropped his head.

"Dad?"

"Yes?"

"You okay?" Neal came and stood beside his father, putting a caring hand on his arm.

Peter took an exhausted breath. "Neal…Why do we have to do this?"

"Do what Dad?"

"This." Peter turned and pointed back at the public housing block. "Why can't you just say, 'Dad, I'm into something serious and I could really do with your help.'"

"Because you'd say, 'Sorry Neal. I know it's important to you but I like to do everything by the book and the book doesn't allow for these types of shenanigans.'" Neal actually managed a pretty accurate Peter voice and the agent chuckled for a second.

Bit all too soon, Peter pressed his lips together and remembered the seriousness of the situation. "Neal, it's not a book, it's the law and you're breaking it, making it my job to stop it as both a federal agent and as your father. Purely by the fact that you know I'll say no should tell you, it's wrong and you shouldn't be doing it in the first place."

"We all do what we have to do, Dad."

Peter bent down and picked up a sizable rock off the footpath. "See this stone, son? This is you."

Neal laughed. "So now you've reduced me to a lump of rock."

Peter ignored the comment and tossed the stone into the murky waters below. The rock disappeared under the water but the ripples from the impact moved away from the centre and continued to flow out in all directions. Peter pointed. "That stone was you, son. Your actions… Isn't it amazing how one little stone can cause such a vast reaction? Those ripples…look how far they reach."

Neal silently watched until the final ripple disappeared. When he could no longer see any, he turned to his dad but Peter had already made his way back to the car.

The two guys travelled in silence, both deep in thought, till they stopped outside the Burke residence. Peter left the car running while he pulled on the handbrake. "Neal, look at me." The boy turned in his seat to face his father. "What you've got going on is dangerous and I won't take any chances like last time. You're going to go in the house and you are grounded for the next week. We'll discuss it more when your mom and I get home tonight but the bottom line is, if need be, I'll put the tracking anklet back on."

-W-C-

Neal walked inside the house and continued on through to the back door to let in his puppy. But Satchmo didn't come running. He was too busy enjoying a tummy rub.

"Hey, man. Where you been? I went to see you at the art school but they said you had to leave early."

"Moz. I found a guy." Neal sat down on the back step.

"Who and how much?"

"The name's Garry and he is going to do it for free. I just have to come up with the car and pay for the gas and some snacks along the way."

"He's going to do it no charge? Out of the goodness of his heart?"

"I know it sounds too good to be true but yeah."

"You're right Neal, too good to be true." Mozzie gave one last pat to the puppy's tummy and then came to sit with his friend. "Why did he agree to it and please don't tell me he's been living in hope that one day someone would invite him to take a scenic tour of Interstate 87."

"No. This guy actually knows Kate. Said they spent a bit of time together before Keller came on the scene and they'd pulled a couple of cons a while back. He didn't think it was right that she should be locked up for something that was ultimately Keller's fault so he said he'd be more than willing to help out."

"Neal, you don't think this sounds even a little suspect."

"No I don't and will you please try and at least pretend to be a little supportive."

"I don't know Neal. I just can't stand back and let you pull off another crazy stunt. You have no impulse control."

"Like you can talk.""

"Neal, it's just that you take crazy to a whole new level."

"The things I've done and the things you've done are no different."

"Well yeah, they are, but we're getting off track. I think this is dangerous and I'd rather you just didn't. Having said that, I'll help you however you need me to."

"Thanks Moz. Dad is tracking me somehow. Can you bring over your anti-bug device and run a scan over all my worldly possession."

-W-C-

"Did you put it in his satchel?" The doctor scribbled a note in her book.

"I attached the tracker in the sole of one of his shoes."

"You didn't think of putting it in the bag he always carries?" Janice momentarily got all caught up in the cloak and dagger side to the case.

"Of course that would have been my first preference but, come on, the kid practically sleeps with the thing."

"I see, you have a point."

"Yes." Peter looked at Janice rather indignantly. "So…I put it inside the sole of one of his shoes."

"How did you know which pair to pick?"

"Well, he usually only wears the one pair. The dress shoes that go well with his casual pants."

"And he doesn't wear any others?"

"Not normally." Peter became lost in some far away thought. "Unless he disguises himself as a real boy, and then of course he would need to wear his sneakers."

"Well, once again Peter, you weren't to know."

"Yeah, thanks. I feel so much better."


	7. Chapter 7

"Have a seat, Neal."

"Please Janice. Do we really need to do this today? Jerry asked me if I'd like to go with him to train with his team and faced with either that, or the prospect of spending an hour with you discussing my feelings, I'd say he made me a pretty dazzling offer."

"Well, I guess if it's alright with your dad outside, he could drive you to training now and bring you back after. I have plenty of paper work I could sort through while you're gone. Do you want to go out and ask?"

Neal glared at the doctor for a moment before slamming his fist down on the back of the couch. "No! I don't want to do either so I certainly don't want to do both!" The teenager took a deep breath and tried hard to rein in his sudden outburst. "Thank you anyway Janice, it was kind of you to offer."

"No problem, Neal. Now please, come and have a seat."

Neal walked around the couch and plopped himself on the floor between the window and the doctor's chair. "What do you want me to tell you today, Janice?" the boy groaned while stretching his body out across the carpet.

"What does Jerry think of Kate?"

"He thinks she's great."

-W-C-

"I don't like Kate."

"Why not?" Neal tossed the baseball back to his friend.

"I just got a bad feeling."

"How? You've never met her."

"Don't need to. I know enough." Jerry threw the ball back in a gentle arc so Neal had to get under it to make the catch.

"So what are you, psychic?" Neal tossed the ball back once again, putting a bit of unnecessary force behind the throw.

"No, man. I'm just not stupid." The friend threw it low, so Neal had to make a dive to stop it getting past.

"What would you know? You haven't even lived." This time, Neal chucked the ball with all his might and Jerry felt the sting through the glove.

Jerry pitched the ball back with even greater force and Neal dropped his glove out of reaction to the pain he felt in his palm. Jerry also dropped his glove to the ground and stepped closer to Neal. "What I know Neal is that she's trouble. She got you involved in some pretty serious stuff. She should know better at her age. She's in detention and now she's going to use you to do something that's beyond stupid!"

"Jerry. I may be stupid but at least I can think for myself. I'm not some pathetic shell of a person, living my life in a bubble because I'm scared shitless that I'm going to make Mommy and Daddy cranky."

Jerry didn't bother with a verbal retort. He just slammed his fist straight into Neal's face. Neal was knocked onto his back and rolled about on the lawn in a mixture of pain and daze. He held a hand over his eye and his head hurt so bad he didn't register the arrival of Jerry's parents to the scene of the crime.

David helped Neal to his feet and gently guided him into the house. Sally held onto his arm, just in case. Jerry followed dejectedly behind the first-aid team.

Sally grabbed some ice from the freezer and wrapped it in a tea towel. David had Neal lying on the couch by the time she arrived with the icepack. As soon as Neal was sorted they turned on their son. "What on earth, Jeremy? What happened?"

Jerry had lost all his anger and was standing miserably alone, feeling quite ashamed of himself. He tried lifting his shoulders.

"Don't you dare shrug your shoulders at me young man!" Sally warned.

"Yes ma'am. We had an argument. I guess I lost my temper. I hit him."

"Did he hit you?"

"No sir." Jerry walked over to the couch, reached down and touched his friend's hand. "I'm real sorry, man."

"Is okaay."

"Jeremy, you can go to your room while we sort out this mess."

"Yes ma'am." Jerry headed swiftly up the stairs and left his friend in the capable hands of his parents.

"Neal. Are you starting to feel a little better? Can you see everything okay?"

"Yes, Mrs Watson. I'm good thankyou."

"Alright Neal. I'll take you home. " David gently lifted the boy into a sitting position.

"I'll be fine, thanks anyway Agent Watson. I've got my bike out front."

"I don't think so, buddy. Let's go." He helped Neal up and together they walked to the car.

Neal pulled the icepack away from his face deciding that the skin was sufficiently numb enough. He looked out the car window. Almost home. What was his mom going to say? "Agent Watson. Can I ask a favour?"

"Depends. You just asked me to allow you to ride home so I don't know how rational you are at the moment."

"Point taken. I just wanted to tell you my side of the story before you got back home to Jerry."

"Okay Neal. What's your side?"

"I was to blame for the fight."

"As far as I knew Neal, you didn't even throw a punch. It wasn't much of a fight on your end."

Neal sighed. "I provoked Jerry. He was trying to tell me something as a friend and I took offence to it. I don't know why but I did and so I said some pretty nasty things to him about …stuff that was uncalled for."

"Be that as it may, Jerry knows better than to punch someone, in the face no less. You're going to have a terrible shiner in the morning, young man."

"Not all bad Agent Watson. It may be something I can use to impress the girls in my art class tomorrow."

"Neal, my boy, you're going to be in so much pain you're going to care less what the girls think."

"I hope you're wrong, but in any case, Jerry's a good friend and I know he hit me, but can we please just leave it at that. I'd like a chance to apologize and make things right. Let us sort it out, Agent Watson?"

"Well see."

-W-C-

"So Jerry thought it was a bad idea?"

"What about that surprises you Janice? Of everything I've ever told you about Jerry, have I ever given you any indication that he may even remotely support something so…"

"Illegal?"

"I was going to say thrilling… exciting…challenging."

"Neal, I need you to come and sit down please."

"I am sitting Janice."

"Sitting where I can see you." Neal was on the opposite side of the couch, sitting with his back to the furniture.

"Fine. Neal jumped up and sat on the head of the couch with his feet on the cushions. Clearly the boy was trying to get Janice to lose her temper, something of course she would never play into.

"And you and Jerry were okay after the fight?"

"Wasn't much of a fight Janice. I pissed him off, he slogged me in the face."

"Was Agent Watson correct? Did the pain override any pleasure you may have felt at feeling like a 'tough guy' with a black eye."

"Mostly I just got sympathy. You know, 'Aww, you poor little pumpkin, what happened to your sweet little face.' For sure it hurt but I've felt worse." Neal subconsciously rubbed at the plaster on his wrist.

"How did you break your wrist, Neal?"

"Silly story really. I'm a bit embarrassed. Can I just skip this question?"

"No."

"Alright, if you're going to have a hissy fit I'll tell you." Janice nodded professionally and Neal smiled back. "I fell off my bike, Janice. Kate and I were playing around in the park and I was showing off doing jumps and I misjudged the landing. Clear went flying over the handle bars and landed on the concrete."

"What did Kate do?"

"She, ah, let's see, yeah that's right. She had her car there and she drove me to emergency. While I was getting my arm x-rayed she called Mom and then she split because she knew Mom wouldn't be too happy to see her."

"Did you mind Kate leaving without saying goodbye?"

"No, that's not what I said Janice. Listen carefully. Kate left while I was getting the x-rays. She told me before I went in that she would call Mom and then head off before she arrived. She gave me a kiss for luck and then said she would call later to check out how I was doing. Kate would never leave without saying goodbye."

"Okay, Neal."

"Write that down please, Janice." Neal pointed to the closed notebook on the doctor's lap. "That way you won't make that slip up again."

"Okay, Neal. Writing it down." Janice made a quick note in her book. "What did your other friends think of your plan to help Kate?"

"I take it you mean Mozzie?"

"Yes. Isn't he the one who helped you out with your plan to 'rescue' Kate?"

"He's the only one who understands."


	8. Chapter 8

"You're still going through with it?"

"Yes, Moz. Nothing's changed."

"You're crazy man?" Moz looked at his young friend shaking his head. "You have no sense of consequence. You're really outdoing yourself this time Neal."

Neal leaned back on his deck chair and readjusted his pillow. He had less than a week to work on his suntan. Mozzie walked inside to his room and returned minutes later with a new CD. He slipped it into the player. Peter, Paul and Mary filled the air, complimenting the ten million dollar view from June's terrace. Life was sweet. And Mozzie had adjusted to the sweet life easier than he ever thought possible. June had kindly offered the spare bedroom to the homeless boy not long after the Burke Wedding late last year. Mozzie and June had bonded over time, mostly during Friday lunches when Neal had been coming around regularly with Satchmo. After Neal started school, Mozzie continue to visit and even went so far as to start an 'exclusive' book club with the generous widow. The charming young man also helped June out around the house with odd chores and would take Bugsy for a walk most afternoons. At some point, Mozzie became a permanent fixture at June's and when the older woman asked him if he would like to move in officially, it was more of a simple continuation of what was already happening.

The sun had shifted position and Mozzie readjusted his chair before he sat back down.

Neal laughed at the sight of his friend going to all manner of trouble to avoid the sun's rays. "You're paranoid Moz. A little bit of sun isn't going to kill you." Neal rolled over on his stomach to get a little vitamin D on his back. He was wearing brightly coloured board shorts which the teenager had been forced to explain on his way in. Peter had bought them for him when he realised his son didn't own any shorts. Mozzie told the boy he was incredibly brave and bold to walk around NYC in something so tacky. Neal clarified by saying he'd got changed in the downstairs bathroom before heading up.

"Don't be so sure my young naïve sun baker. You have no idea what lying out in the open without any sun protection is doing to your tender adolescent skin. It's the middle of the day, the worst possible time for ultra violet rays."

"Geez man. You sound like an old woman. Get a grip of yourself."

"Hello, you boys thirsty?" June walked through from Mozzie's room carrying a tray with two ice-cream sodas."

Both boys sat up and took the mouth-watering drinks from the kindly widow.

"Thank you, June."

"Thanks, June."

"You're welcome." June headed back to the house when she suddenly had a thought.

"Neal. Please tell me you're not sitting out in the full sun without so much as a smidgin of sunscreen."

Neal almost spat out his first mouthful of drink and dared not look at his friend. "It's okay June. I won't be out here long. Plus, it's finally spring. I want to get my tan off to a great start."

"I'll get you some sunscreen." She walked off.

"Unreal Moz. You two punched out of the same dye lot or something. I'm not going to bother with sunscreen and June's not going to make me."

"Excuse me?" Neal grimaced when he heard what was sure to be a sun lotion bottle hitting the terrace table.

Neal looked over feeling more than a little embarrassed. "Ah…nothing June."

"We're you just being disrespectful, young man."

Neal hesitated but gave in quickly under the stern glare of the older woman. "Yes, ma'am."

June pointed at the space in front her feet. "Come here."

Neal shot a glance at his friend and reluctantly hopped up and walked over to the older lady. He cringed at the thought of what was about to happen. And in front of Mozzie no less. As expected, June turned him sideways and delivered two very firm swats to his backside. "You know better, young man. Now, put on the sunscreen or we'll discuss the matter further."

"Yes ma'am." Neal picked up the sunscreen bottle and began to apply it to his arms and legs without hesitation. He collected his shirt and slipped it back over his head. After he was certain June had departed, he turned to Mozzie to pre-empt any teasing. "Don't you dare say a word!"

Mozzie smiled and had a half-hearted attempt to hold back the laugher trying to escape his lips.

Neal knew it so he challenged, "Besides, its not like June hasn't whacked your butt several times since you moved in here."

"That's not true," the older kid became defensive. "I wouldn't say several!"

Neal gave his friend a stare and climbed back onto his deck chair to resume devouring his ice-cream soda. "So what else would I need?"

"Apart from a therapist?"

"Funny."

"Okay, so you've got a driver," Mozzie looked his young friend up and down, "And just as well because, can you even see over the dash?" Neal simply glared. "Are you sure about this Garry, Neal? He seems very questionable."

"Stop being paranoid. Garry's going to be perfect."

"If you say so." Mozzie put down his empty glass. "He'll solve the problem of you rocking up on your own. Under-aged visitors need to be accompanied by an adult. So Garry's your new guardian. Better get his last name if he's going to be related." Neal nodded and took a final slurp of his drink. "It's more than a two hour drive. Add that to the time you'll need for the visit and you're looking at a full day. If you go on a Thursday, you don't have to worry that you'll be missed."

"Yeah. I thought maybe a week from tomorrow."

"Okay, so you'll have to get started on the ID. You'll need a fairly current photo of Kate."

-W-C-

"So Mozzie supported your plan, Neal?"

"Yes Janice. He thought the plan was brilliant."

-W-C-

"What do you think?"

Thursday morning and the two scammers sat perched on the gutter across from the Burke residence. They waved innocently to Peter and El as the older couple headed off to work in the Taurus. Every Thursday, Peter gave his wife a lift to work, leaving his mom's Beetle to waste away outside the house for the day.

"I don't know Neal. It just all seems like a very bad idea."

"No I meant the car." Neal pointed at his mom's VW before turning to glare at his friend. "Why are you so against me with this? First Jerry, and of course Dad who's against it even though he doesn't know what's going on, now you."

"What do you mean? There are others that think this is by far the most ludicrous thing you've ever done?"

"It's a perfect plan, Moz. Don't be so damn cynical."

"Neal, you're going to steal your mother's car, hire a very suspect character to drive you north, to see a girl your parents never want you to have contact with again, and help her break out of a juvenile detention centre. Now if you don't think that's one hell of a crazy ass idea then you've spent too long in show biz."

"Whatever. Now I have one week to get a message to Kate and clue her in as well as registering our visit on the centre data base and finalizing Kate's visitor ID badge. There's a lot of work to do Moz so are you on board or not?"

-W-C-

"So Mozzie did try and talk you out of it."

"Not really. Mozzie just likes to think he is the voice of reason."

"Someone has to play the grown-up, Neal… Would you consider Kate to be grown-up?"

"Is my time up?" Neal looked at his watch and groaned, still ten more minutes. He sighed "I am really tired of answering your repetitive questions Janice. If you ask me one more time how I broke my wrist I think I'm going to throw up."

"Well since you brought it up, how did you break your wrist Neal?"

"Damn it, Janice! Why do you keep asking me that?" Neal picked up a cushion off the couch and threw it against the far wall. He would have done more, but he didn't want to risk breaking something.

"Because you still haven't given me an answer." Janice ignored the mini-tantrum.

"I've given you lots of answers." Neal pleaded.

"No, Neal, you've given me stories." Janice's voice remained level and calm amidst the emotions emanating from the young boy. "I want you to tell me how you broke your wrist."

"I didn't break my wrist, Janice!" He punctuated his response by slamming the cast down onto the back of the couch. This time it hit with a crunch and Neal immediately retracted the wrist to cradle it against his chest. Yes, that would have been quite painful. "I wasn't the one who broke it, Janice."

"Then who did, Neal?"

It was spoken quietly, but Janice heard it anyway, "My dad, Peter."


	9. Chapter 9

**Author's Note:** I've posted this chapter earlier in the day than the others so be sure not to skip Chapter 8 - won't make much sense without reading that first. I'll be away on a short five day holiday but promise to update as soon as I return. However, FEEL FREE TO LEAVE LOTS OF REVIEWS while I'm gone, I will get them when I return and it may cheer me up because not only will my holiday be over but I'll be having to return to work! :( Happy Easter.

###

"He said I broke his wrist?"

"Yes."

"Why would he say that?"

"Well, maybe because you did."

"Yeah…but not like that. It sounds like I took him out back and snapped his arm."

"No. It doesn't sound like that…Okay, maybe a little. But this is the first time he hasn't factored Kate into his story. It's a start." Janice looked optimistic.

"Yeah. It's a start." Peter folded his arms and sat back hoping for something better.

"So let's look at what we have. There's a teenage boy, who's suffering silently the trauma of not knowing what's going on his head with regards to the whole mess with Matthew Keller six months ago. He knows bits and pieces but he's unable to put it all together. He's lost contact with the one person in his life that he feels is his link to those memories. We have his dad, who knows the boy is planning something dangerous and reckless, possibly illegal." Janice waited till Peter looked in her direction. "And let's not forget the FBI Agent who feels like a well planned con is slipping through his hands and has a good chance of succeeding despite his best efforts."

"Spot on, doctor. Once again I failed as an agent. I failed as a parent." He rested his chin on his knuckles and shook his head.

"Peter, you can only work with what you've got and if Neal kept it from you and Elizabeth, well you're not a mind reader and you're certainly not a miracle worker."

"But I am an FBI Agent."

"Did your son leave any bread crumbs? Was he careless or obvious about what he was up to?"

"No. Sadly, Neal is very good at everything he puts his mind to despite its legitimacy. And in this case, he came very close to pulling it off without a hitch."

-W-C-

"Neal, wake up we're almost there." Garry nudged the young boy in the passenger seat.

"How far?" Neal rubbed at his eyes. He hadn't planned to fall asleep but he'd been up all night going through the plan and was way too anxious to sleep.

"Only a couple of clicks up the road. We should be there in about ten minutes."

"Great. Let's go over the plan one more time." Garry nodded.

-W-C-

Neal walked into the visitor's common room and scanned for a familiar face. Almost immediately he spotted Kate sitting at one of the benches and made a bee line to greet her. 'Uncle Garry' trailed closely behind. "Kate!"

"Pip." She hopped up and gave him a very loving hug. "Thank you for coming."

"Kate, you remember Uncle Garry?"

"Hi Garry." She gave the older man a kiss on the cheek.

"Hi Kate." He pulled her in for an embrace. A little too familiar for Neal's liking. Garry slipped Kate's visitor ID down the front of her blouse. The blouse was mostly covered by a set of royal blue overalls. The type worn by all the residents.

Neal cut in between the two, clearly unhappy that he was not the centre of the girl's attention. "Kate you look good."

"And look at you." Kate inspected her young friend. "You've grown."

"A little." Neal grinned from ear to ear and stood a little straighter.

"And I see you got dressed up for the occasion." Kate indicated the casual clothes the teenager was wearing. "I don't think I've ever seen you in a t-shirt or sneakers."

"It was Mozzie's idea. He told me if I didn't want to bring any undue attention to myself, I should pretend to be a child.'"

Kate laughed at that. She always had a great sense of humour. "So how is our Mozzie. Still thinking the whole world is a conspiracy?"

"Pretty much."

"Okay you two, there'll be plenty of time for chit chat on the way home. You ready Kate?"

"Yes. You ready Neal?"

"You bet. Let's do this."

Kate and Garry sat back down on the benches. It was the corner table and Garry sat on the side with his back to the door where two female guards were watching over the rowdy room full of family, friends and the blue overall brigade. Kate took the seat closest to the wall.

Neal leant over and gave his friend a kiss. "Good luck, Kate."

"Good luck, Pip."

With that Neal moseyed on over to the opposite corner. He sat down on the end of a bench where a family with a couple of teenagers were chatting rather aggressively with a young girl in the centre-issued blue suit. There were many curse words being thrown back and forth across the table and they took no notice of the young arrival. Neal readied himself for the 'Arachnocon.' Kate had suitably named it after its first use a couple of years ago. It was one of their favourite cons because it was funny to watch the various reactions from the unfortunate bystanders.

"SPIDER!" Neal screamed at the top of his voice and stood on the bench. "SPIDER!" He started hitting at his shirt and dancing up and down on the spot. All activity in the room stopped while everyone focused their attention on the young boy dancing hysterically in the corner. The teenagers at his table had sprung from their seats and put a bit of distance between themselves and the scene playing out. One of the guards came over to put an end to the hysterics. "Calm down young man!" She looked around. "Where are your parents?"

"Spider!" Neal ripped off his tee. It was a WWW shirt with an image of some bald wrestler trying unsuccessfully to look menacing. "I'm allergic to spiders. One bite and I'm dead!" Neal continued to scream at the top of his voice.

Meanwhile, Kate had climbed under the table, removed her blue overalls and wrapped the lanyard with her visitors ID around her neck. Garry plus one, made their way past the guard at the door who scanned their ID's without too much care, way too concerned with the young boy screaming out that he was about to die.

The guard tending to Neal, checked the ID hanging around his neck. She turned back to the crowd, "Mr or Mrs Fowler?"

No one stepped forward to take ownership of the boy who'd stopped screaming and was beginning to turn red in the face.

"I think I saw his dad go to the bathroom." One of the cursing teenagers offered to the guard.

The guard was about to shout out when one of the bystanders pointed at Neal. "He's having a reaction!"

The guard returned her attention and grabbed Neal before he collapsed to the floor, foam seeping from the sides of his lips. "Someone get the centre doctor!" The frantic guard called out.

Neal grabbed her arm and sat himself up. "It's okay." He wiped away the foam. That had been a particularly nasty sherbet ball Mozzie had made for him. He must remember to let his friend know to tone it down for next time. "It's all fine. I'm sorry. I just panicked. I saw a spider crawl down my shirt and I just lost it."

"You didn't get bitten? Sure you're okay, George?" The guard referred to Neal's ID.

"Yes, thank you ma'am. I'll just sit here quietly and wait for my dad to return from the bathroom."

"Well, if you need anything I'll be right over there." The guard indicated the door.

"Thank you, ma'am." Neal pulled the WWW tee back over his head.

The room slowly returned to normal and Neal expected he'd have to wait just a little while before the next family headed off. He'd join them as they had their ID's scanned and if he was pulled up, he'd just tell the guard he was going to get some fresh air while he waited for his dad. He had it all worked out. It was perfect. Almost perfect.

While he was waiting, Lauren Cruz came down from her office after hearing that there'd been some commotion in the girls' visitor centre. She had a quick chat with the guard on the door before being pointed towards the young boy sitting with the family of teenagers.

Neal saw her coming and casually began to cross the room in the opposite direction. But when he looked over his shoulder, the new arrival was zoning in fast. He'd have to talk his way out of this one.

"George Fowler?"

Neal turned to young woman and gave a dazzling smile, "Yes ma'am?"

"George, come with me please." Lauren walked back towards the entrance with Neal reluctantly following on her heals. They walked down a corridor to a private office and Lauren indicated for the young boy to have a seat in one of the visitor chairs. "So _George_", she said the name like it didn't fit. "You had a bit of a scare, I hear."

"Yes, ma'am. I'm allergic to spiders. One bite can be deadly."

"Really?" The warden didn't sound at all convinced.

"Then I guess it was a good thing your dad was there to take care of you."

"Well…actually, he was in the bathroom. I was just waiting for him to get back so we can head off."

"You'll be waiting a while then." Neal raised his eyebrows in confusion. "We checked the parking lot. '_Dad_' didn't bother waiting for you."

Neal remained silent. The plan had always been that Garry would only wait a short time before clearing out. They only had a very small window of opportunity to make it back onto the Interstate so plan B was that Neal would make his own way back if he got held up.

Lauren got up and headed for the door. "But don't worry. I'm sure I can find someone to give you a lift back… Neal."


	10. Chapter 10

"Mr Caffrey," Warden Cruz stood inside the unlocked holding cell door and beckoned with her arm, "you're being released."

"Really?" It sounded too good to be true.

"Yes. Let's go. You're being released into the custody of Agent Burke_." Yeah, too good to be true alright._ "He's in the outer office ready to take you home, Neal."

"No thank you, Ms Cruz." Neal backed further into the cell.

Cruz wasn't sure what that was supposed to mean. "Excuse me?"

"I said, 'No thank you, ma'am.' I'll just stay here if that's alright with you."

"No. It's not alright with me, Neal. You're father is here to take you home and he's waiting for you right now." Lauren tried to sound firm but the situation was really quite amusing.

"That's good to know, ma'am, but I'm not going anywhere." The boy had his back pressed firmly against the wall of the cell.

"Have it your way, Mr Caffrey." Lauren stepped back out, and deliberately left the cell door open as she returned to the outer office empty handed.

Neal hung his head. This wasn't going to end well. He needed a minute to strategise. What could he possibly say to Peter to get him out of this mess? He'd been thinking too long about how to get out of the detention centre, not how to get out of what was sure to be one hell of a consequence from his dad. Lauren had taken him by surprise and he hadn't been ready. And now…

He ceased all thought processes when heard footsteps approaching. He held his breath and considered that maybe if he was very still and ever so quite, he wouldn't even be noticed. He knew those footsteps. Neal thought it was a strange thing how you could tell a person by the sound of their steps. He always knew if it was his mom or dad walking around upstairs when he was sitting in the living room, they both had unique pacing to their steps. Unfortunately, the steps he could hear now, increasing in volume, belonged to his dad. As the footsteps grew louder, so did the matching pounding from his heart. All too soon, the footsteps stopped, right outside the entrance to his holding cell. Then there was silence. Neal wanted to look up, but he couldn't. He knew what was there without looking anyway. Why bother with confirmation? The junior criminal continued to study the floor. He knew Peter was there. He knew his dad would look angry, he'd look disappointed and he'd look relieved. Neal knew his dad could roll all those emotions into one look. The poor guy had been given a lot of practice.

The silence was excruciating. Someone say something please! Neal cursed in his head, and took a reluctant step towards the door, still without taking his eyes off the floor. Maybe if he didn't look, he could pretend for a little while longer that this was all just a bad dream. Another step, another foot closer to reality. His stomach was twisting in knots and if his breathing became any more difficult he may very well find himself passed out before he completed his journey. He could only hope! He was literally dragging his feet along the ground as he reached the final inches of his walk of doom. At last, he knew he'd reached the end, not because he finally braved a glance up, but because his eyes settled on a very familiar pair of well polished black Oxfords, his own sneakers looking tiny by comparison to the large pair of shoes standing firm blocking any hope of freedom. He felt Peter's tension, he felt his stress and then he felt a very firm hand slam against his backside. Yep, no need to look up. He hung his head low and followed the well polished shoes into the outer office.

He heard Peter say his goodbyes to Lauren as he trailed behind his father all the way back to the parking lot. A car door was opened and he slid himself onto the back seat. The door was shut, for sure it had the child lock and he heard Peter getting into the driver's seat. The car shifted into drive and Neal decided it was time to bite the bullet and chance a glance at his dad. He couldn't see much. A little bit of the side of his face but mostly the back of his head. Neal decided it couldn't possibly be a bad dream, for if it was, real steam would be shooting out of his dad's ears and molten larva would be bubbling out of the top of his head. Still, he would have preferred the dream. At least in that scenario there was a chance that some miracle of nature might take place and stem Mt Saint Burke from erupting. Sadly though, there'd be no miracles in this reality and unquestionably, there was going to be a hell of an eruption. Peter was yet to speak to his son and Neal suspected the older man needed all the time he could to calm his emotions. It was going to be a long two hours to get home but where Neal was concerned, if the journey took two years it would still be too short.

-W-C-

The Taurus pulled up outside the Burke's Brooklyn address right on sundown. Neal saw the irony in the timing even if it was lost on his driver. The boy hadn't considered he'd have to face the other half of Team Consequence upon arriving home. He'd had many other thoughts but his mom, waiting with her arms folded and a serious scowl on her face, had slipped his mind. This just kept getting better. Neal stayed in his seat, not that he really had a choice with the whole kiddie lock restriction, until Peter came around and released him. Now if only he could move. Why was his body being so damn uncooperative? Not that he needed his body to comply when he had a back-up plan - Peter. Before his brain registered what was happening, Peter had him out of the car, on his feet and was being helped towards the front porch with a stinging swat to his butt. With that generous assistance, he was able to travel the rest of the journey of his own accord. "Hi Mom." Neal didn't bother with the usual charm. He'd left that at the Moreton Detention Centre in his private little holding cell. Instead he returned his mom kiss and accepted her hug as possibly the final calm before the great storm that was brewing to his flank.

El released her son and ordered, "Go wash up for dinner."

Neal didn't feel in the slightest bit like eating but now was not the time to be obstreperous. He returned quickly from the bathroom to find his mom and dad already seated at the table and his meal served for him. The dish was a simple pasta, not like he could care less what was on the plate. Eating was the last thing the knots in his stomach needed. He knew that with every passing moment, he was pulled closer to the mother of all lectures and his inevitable punishment. There had been times in the past when he was concerned Peter might resort to a threat he made very early on in their relationship but each time, fate or something equally kind had stepped in and saved his butt. Tonight, Neal had no qualms about his punishment for this latest offense. Without question, after he finished his meal, Neal knew he would finally know what it felt like to have Peter's belt land painfully on his backside.

The defeated teenager didn't have to work hard at eating slowly. It was mighty difficult to chew and swallow while sitting across from one parent that was shooting daggers and another that was still too angry to speak a single word in any direction. Dinner was more than excruciating, so Neal was partially relieved when Peter finally removed the half eaten bowl of pasta from under him and helped El clear the dishes to the kitchen. Neal made a move to help but the glare from his dad stopped him in his tracks. Finally, direct eye contact. It really hadn't been worth waiting for. Neal couldn't wait for them both to return. This was going to be so much fun!

-W-C-

Neal sat with his head in his hands and began to question if it had all been worth it.

"So, was it worth it, Neal?" Peter didn't beat around the bush as he returned from completing his kitchen chores.

Neal shrugged and the older man knew that given the same opportunities, his son would do exactly the same thing all over again.

"Answer your father Neal."

"Yes. It was worth it. Kate didn't belong up there. Sitting in a room all alone, day in day out. What a waste!"

"What a waste Neal? Seriously?" Peter gripped the back of the dining chair, trying to keep his temper in check. It wasn't working.

"What harm is she to anyone? Prison should only be for violent criminals. Kate is as caring and gentle as a person can be. She'd never hurt anyone." Neal remained seated looking up at both parents who were circling the table like sharks would their prey.

"How about the people she stole from, the people she conned. The people that you and her and the rest of her crew ripped off with your little cons. Don't those people count?"

"So you're saying I should be in prison too, Peter. Is that what you want? Would that make you h….."

"Don't you dare say, would that make me happy!" Peter finally broke. His voice bellowed through the room and all but put an end to any more discussion on the topic. Neal couldn't remember a time when Peter had yelled at him with that same degree of anger. No this had clearly surpassed all other occasions and Neal didn't like it. His dad wasn't happy and the finger of blame pointed squarely in Neal's direction. The teenager sat quietly waiting for someone else to make the next move. Peter paced back and forth taking deep breaths. After about his fifth pass he turned to face the young boy. Peter merely pointed in the direction of the stairs. His gesture spoke volumes. Neal was being sent to his room and was about to get his ass tanned.

Peter stood under the shower washing away the worries of the world. Well that was the theory. A theory that wasn't working very well. Where did it all go wrong? At what point had the wheels fallen off the wagon? For one thing, he had seriously miscalculated the power of Kate. He'd learnt the hard way that when it came to Kate, Neal's judgement was seriously lacking. But he was a FBI Agent, and a pretty damn good one at that. How had he missed the scam right under his nose? It was shameful. Plus, factor in that something very bad may have happened to his son at any point on his journey up to the detention centre with that slimy undesirable…Peter flicked off the shower. It was no more than a waste of water. After drying off, the agent pulled on some casual clothes. He closed up the wardrobe doors and stepped towards the hall. He stopped, ran his hands through his hair, sighed deeply and returned to stand once again before the wardrobe. He opened up one side and stood, just staring for ages. Finally, he reached in and removed one of his leather belts. He folded it in half and made his way to the third level.

Neal heard the small knock on his door and dived, like a little kid, under the bed. He thought maybe that if he didn't answer, perhaps all his problems would go away. Sadly, no such luck. He heard the door slowly open and then observed from his concealed space as an imposing figure came into view. Neal felt his stomach drop and was unsuccessful in brushing away his jitters. There was something terribly unnerving about his dad standing in the doorway, but it wasn't the man, in so much as what he held loosely in his hand. And if Neal had ever had any doubt, it was instantly blown away as Peter crossed the room carrying the implement that was for no other purpose than to whip his butt.

Peter made himself comfortable on the bed, steeling himself for what was to come. Neal was grateful that his bed didn't have a spring base. Then again, it may have been a more preferable fate. "Neal?"

"Yes, Dad?"

"Why are you under the bed?"

"I'm hiding."

"You're not very good at it."

"That's not true. I'm very good at it. I'm just trying convincing myself that if I stay under here long enough, you might get tired of waiting and go watch a game on the telly or something."

"Not going to happen."

"No kidding." Neal replied dryly. "Plus, I thought I was better off diving under the bed than out the window like last time. You have to give me some credit for that."

"You're right. I do appreciate the fact that you didn't run off again. I guess I should consider myself lucky." Peter said rather sarcastically.

"Dad?"

"Yes?"

"…Never mind."

"Neal, I'm going to be putting the electronic monitoring anklet back on you tomorrow."

"I figured as much."

"And tomorrow I'll be assisting the Marshalls in their search for Kate. We will find her and we will return her to the detention centre. I absolutely forbid you to have anymore contact with her. Do you understand?"

"I understand that you have a job to do."

"Neal, you understand that you are not allowed to write to Kate anymore or receive any of her letters. I've discussed it already with Warden Cruz. The letters will never be allowed past the first security check."

"Fine. I get it Dad."

"And you also get that I won't allow you to have any contact with her whatsoever,"

"Whatever." Neal was getting tired of the discussion and began to forget why he was under the bed in the first place.

"Okay. You're also grounded for the next month. It's straight home after school, no going to visit Mozzie, no hanging around Jerry, no going to the art galleries or museums unless it's with the school. Clear?"

"Yes, Dad."

"Okay then." Peter took a deep breath. "You need to come out now."

Nothing happened for a good couple of minutes. Peter had said all he needed to and so he just waited, patiently for Neal to crawl out from under the bed. If needed, he could get down on his hands and knees and physically drag the boy out but Peter appreciated the time to come to terms with the punishment he had to dish out.

Eventually, the agent felt two small hands wrap around one of his ankles. Peter smiled and stood up. He dragged his foot across the floor, essentially pulling the young boy with him. Neal slid along the ground until he was fully out from under the bed and he just lay on the ground looking up sadly at his dad. Peter's heart broke as he tried hard to keep in mind that his young boy was possibly the world's greatest junior conman. Towering over the boy he reached down. "Come on. Let's get this over with." He pulled his son to his feet and then picked the belt up from where he'd left it on the bed.

"Dad."

"Yes?"

"If this is difficult for you, we'd all understand. If you let me off, I wouldn't take that as a sign that I could now do whatever I want. You don't need to do this as a deterrent. I'm not planning on ever doing anything remotely close to what I did again."

"Neal. When we catch Kate and put her back in detention, there's not a chance on earth you won't try something else…This isn't a deterrent."

"It's not?"

"No, son. It's a punishment. You stole a car, hired an unsavoury character, forged documents that you used at a federal facility and helped a detainee to escape. You should be going to a juvenile detention centre yourself, but I would never allow that to happen. I will however not allow you to do whatever you concoct in that brilliant mind of yours without any care or consideration for the law or for how it will affect your mom or I. This is not going to be a deterrent Neal. This is me punishing you for breaking the law, being dishonest, deceitful, and reckless." Peter folded the belt and looked expectantly at Neal. The teenager had tears forming in his eyes already. This wasn't going to be easy. "Let's go son. Bend over." Peter indicated the bed behind the boy with a nod of his head.

Neal shook his head, a few stray tears escaping down the side of his cheeks. "I don't want to."

"Well, with a bit of luck you might remember to consider all the repercussions before your next hair brain scheme." Peter gently turned his boy to face the bed and pushed carefully till Neal had to reach out his hands to stop himself from falling. His palms came to rest on the mattress. Peter placed a firm hand on the boy's back and positioned himself to the side. He pulled back his arm and swung the belt firmly across the teenager's backside. Neal flinched but didn't yell or scream, just began to cry softly and as Peter swung the belt again and again, the sobs increased in volume. Neal didn't bother with trying to hold back his tears, he just dug his fingers into the comforter on the bed and tried unsuccessfully to ignore the walloping being administered to his behind. After a sound hiding, Peter gave two final very firm whacks with the belt, then placed it down on the bedside table.

Neal immediately threw himself face down on the bed and pulled a pillow over his head. Peter sat beside him rubbing a gentle hand across his back. He continued to sob for a good five minutes and then, eventually he calmed down and the sobbing gradually turned into a light sniffle.

"Neal, I'm going to give you some space for a little while, but I'll be back to check up on you shortly, okay?" Peter didn't get a response so he just patted the boy on the back, picked up his belt and quietly departed the room.

-W-C-

"So how was he when you went back to check on him?"

"Sound asleep, totally out to it. He was lying across his bed fully clothed. I didn't want to disturb him so I got a spare blanket from his wardrobe and wrapped it over him."

"Where was Elizabeth?"

"She was waiting for me in our room. She was pretty shattered by the whole prison break scam concocted by her son. Between the two of us, we were both mentally drained. We held each other on the bed and drifted off to sleep sometime in the early hours of the morning."

"You would have been a bit of mess the next day, I guess…How was Neal?"

"As expected, quiet, well behaved,…sore maybe?"

"But not sorry?"

"I'm confident he was very sorry. Sorry that he was caught and had his butt whipped. But you're right. As far as being sorry for helping Kate to break out, no chance. I reattached the tracking anklet. There was no doubt in my mind he would catch up with Kate before I could."

"So the punishment hadn't been a deterrent at all?"

"No, unfortunately. As I've said before, when it comes to Kate, Neal's judgement and common sense are seriously lacking. Add that to the fact the boy has no impulse control and it's a recipe for disaster."

"So you were well aware that you weren't out of the woods."

"Janice, you have no idea. The worse was yet to come."


	11. Chapter 11

"What type of a gun was it?"

"I don't know."

"Did you know Garry carried a gun?"

"No Janice. I did not. I only met him once before our 'trip'. And he didn't take the gun when we went to see Kate."

"As far as you know." Janice tuned in her seat to follow the boy with her eyes. Once again, he was completing laps of her office.

"Yes, as far as I know. I didn't give him a full body search or anything."

"So the first time you saw him with a gun was when you went to see Kate, after you both got out of the detention centre."

"Funny, Janice. I wasn't in the detention centre. Just visiting."

"Of course. Why didn't you leave as soon as you saw the gun?"

"I was…concerned. I wanted to know why he'd need a gun to pull a con."

"The con that Garry and Kate were working on?" Neal nodded. "Were you involved?"

"No. Garry wanted Kate to get back an item that she had stolen and then sold about three years ago. He said it was of special value to a friend of his."

"What was it?"

"It was an ancient leather bound book with early Egyptian manuscripts. Garry was quite anxious to get it back and apparently Kate knew where to find it."

"So getting back to the gun, why did Garry make you hold it?"

"I'm not sure. He wanted to teach me how to use it but I gave it straight back and then split. Told Kate I'd catch up with her later."

"Had you ever held a gun before that?"

"No, I don't like guns."

"Why not?"

"I'm not sure."

"Your dad has a gun."

"But that's for work."

"Haven't you ever been inquisitive enough to have a quick hold of it while he's not looking? I'm sure it would be a natural thing for a teenager to be curious about, especially knowing there's one in the house."

"Not me."

"Not even a slight interest."

"No Janice. Dad would kill me if he ever found me anywhere near it. Besides, I'm pretty sure he keeps it locked up somewhere while he's at home."

"Has your dad ever had to fire his gun?"

"Maybe. He doesn't talk about it."

"But you spent some time at his office while on a work experience program."

"Not a lot happened while I was around."

"There was that thing with Matthew Keller."

"Time's up Janice." The teenager spun around and turned towards the door.

"No it's not Neal."

"I want to go home now."

"You can, after you answer one more question…"

Neal reluctantly stepped closer to Janice and perched his butt on the arm rest of the couch.

"Tell me why you went after Matthew Keller."

"After I tell you I can go?"

"Yes Neal."

The young boy took a deep breath. "I had to go and see him to try and change his mind. He wanted me to keep working for him but I wanted to stop. He made some treats. He's a very bad person and I was stupid and somehow got my family involved. I thought maybe I could strike up some kind of deal and he'd leave them alone."

"Did it work, the deal?"

"I never got a chance to discuss it. Keller hurt me." Neal rubbed at the spot under his hair where he'd had the stitches.

"Then what happened?"

Neal gazed off into the distance, trying to force back memories. "Dad came and rescued me."

"How?"

"He arrested Keller and the guys who worked with him then he took me home. I was pretty out to it. Dad said Keller was going away for long time."

"He said that?"

"Yeah, something like that. He told me I'd never have to worry about him again."

"So where's Matthew Keller now?"

"Janice, I should be going. Dad is waiting and he might be getting worried."

"We wouldn't want to worry your dad now would we Neal, you'd better go. I'll see you next week."

-W-C-

Janice studied the agent sitting across on the couch. Each week he looked a little more haggard than the previous sessions. He obviously wasn't taking the relaxing pills she had prescribed for him. "Tell me about the dream."

"Nothing's changed. In it, I still don't reach him in time."

"But you did reach him, so why do you think your mind is having a hard time accepting that?"

Peter shook his head. "To be completely honest, I don't know why."

"Can I offer a possibility?"

"Of course."

"You're son always seems to be…one step ahead of you and you feel like you're always playing catch up. Can't be easy for someone who prides himself on being ahead of the game. Maybe, some part of your brain is saying, I'm too tired, I can't do this anymore, I'm giving up."

"I would never give up on Neal!" Peter appeared offended by the mere mention of that scenario,

"No, but you're not superman Peter and at some point you feel you're going to run out of steam and you're frightened you'll no longer be there to catch him when he falls."

-W-C-

"That is looking truly magnificent Neal. I have a buyer waiting in the wings for something just like this." Principal Belding gazed over the masterful work of art in progress on the painting easel.

"Not this one, Kelly. This one I'm holding onto for someone special."

"The young girl in the painting?"

"Maybe." Neal gave her his never fail smile.

"Your call, Darl. "Don't forget the Barkers who purchased 'Christmas Lake' are keen to obtain a matching pair at some point."

"Haven't forgotten Kelly. Just want to finish this one for someone's birthday."

"Well, you've painted it with love, she's sure to treasure it forever. I…" Kelly's praise trailed off as her attention was taken by the two newcomers in the room. Neal put his paint brush down when he also registered the presence of Diana and Clinton, and how out of place they looked in his school.

Diana came over to Kelly while Clinton scouted the perimeter of the room. "Ms Belding, I'm Agent Berrigan."

"What's going on Diana?" Neal butted in before Kelly had a chance.

"Sorry to interrupt your class Ms Belding, but Agent Burke asked us to come here and collect Neal. There's been a lead into a case were working on and we need to ask Neal a few questions."

"Of course." Kelly put a hand on Neal's shoulder. "Take care, Darl. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Yeah." That might depend. What had his dad so upset that he'd sent two agents down to pull him from school? It could be any one of a number of things and Neal had no idea which one he'd been caught out with.

-W-C-

Agent Burke grabbed the young boy as he meandered through the door to his office and shoved him into a chair. "What's going on Dad?"

Peter gave no response. Instead he walked back to his desk drawer and removed a clear plastic evidence bag. He held it up to reveal a revolver. Neal was confused. "It's a gun?"

Peter placed the evidence back in the draw and sat across from his son. "Yes, it's a gun. Well done. Care to tell me how it has your prints all over it?"

Neal's heart skipped a beat as he shook his head playing the ignorance card.

Peter glared at the young boy. "Start talking Neal or I'm taking you home right now. And it won't be for popcorn and a movie."

Neal gulped, "I may have held it for a bit but I gave it back."

"Start from the beginning." Peter pointed a finger across the table. "And let me make it very clear. Do not leave anything out!"

"No Dad. I went to see Kate and Garry." Neal waited. He knew that admission right there would spell trouble for his butt.

"Should I write them all down Neal, make a list? Cause in one statement alone, that's two blatant acts of disobedience. You broke your grounding and you went to see Kate." Peter was having a difficult time controlling his anger. One short week after having to punish the boy he was going to have to go through it all again. Add that to the fact he'd spent a very draining seven days sorting through the mess of Kate's escape with Lauren Cruz and the Marshalls. He'd been able to keep the wolves at bay by pointing out that Neal had not walked out with Garry and Kate, had only pulled a childish prank within the visitor centre and also that he was just a child. Peter knew it was a load of bullshit but apart from a select few, most accepted it as plausable. After all, Neal _was_ technically a child.

Neal ignored the rhetorical questions and continued knowing that his dad was in no mood for anything less. "They were planning a con. Garry had a gun and wanted to show me how to use it but I handed it straight back and I haven't seen either one of them since. That's the truth, I swear."

"Let me guess, they were planning to steal some very old Egyptian Manuscripts?"

"Yes, how did you know?" Neal was genuinely surprised.

"Guess where we found the gun. Your friend is setting you up Neal."

"It wasn't Kate's gun!"

"I'm talking about Garry."

"He's not my friend."

"Well you did lend him your mom's car so you must have something going on." Peter replied sarcastically.

"When were the manuscripts taken?"

"Yesterday. Why?"

"No reason."

"Wondering if Bonnie and Clyde have had time to pack up and leave yet?"

"They're not a couple Dad."

"We'll see Neal. In the meantime, you will not leave my side and so help me if I have to cuff you to my wrist I will."

-W-C-

For the next three hours, Neal sat at a table in the corner of Peter's office, drawing. True to his word, the agent never left his side and when Neal asked to go the bathroom, he was escorted by his father. Peter used the time to chase up leads on Garry Fowler. They pointed to a very dangerous man, a shady criminal with a wrap sheet a mile long. Peter wasn't going to be able to sleep until the crook was behind bars. "Time to go home, Neal." Peter grabbed his jacket and keys.

"We heading home for popcorn and a movie, Dad?" the kid asked smartly.

Peter bit his lip and didn't trust himself to speak. Instead he grabbed the shoulder strap of Neal's satchel and half dragged the kid to the parking garage.

-W-C-

"We were halfway home when Neal got the text." Peter stood up to stretch his legs.

The doctor questioned sympathetically, "You'd forgotten to confiscate the phone?"

"Yes. Add that to the list. And in retrospect, wouldn't that have made all the difference in the world."


	12. Chapter 12

Neal sat outside Dr Murphy's office waiting to be called in. His dad sat in the chair opposite and his mom chatted with the receptionist. It wasn't the first time his mom had brought him but it was the first time he was escorted by both parents. Was he really that much of a flight risk?

"You can go in now," the receptionist announced from behind the counter.

Neal hopped up, keen once again for it all to be over, but was pulled up short as he realised his parents were also making a move to enter the office. They strolled on past and took a seat on the couch. Neal stood in the doorway, quite bewildered with the turn of events. "What's going on, Janice?"

Janice reached behind Neal and shut the door. "Have a seat, Neal. I asked your mom and dad to join us for this one session."

"Why?" The young boy stood with his back against the door, secretly hoping it might come off its hinges and allow for an easy escape.

"Because there are some issues that require input from all parties and it would be good to talk about them together."

"Good for whom?"

"Come and sit down please, Neal." Janice indicated the additional chair that had been placed side on to the couch and her seat, especially for the occasion.

"Whatever." Neal sat on the floor in front of the chair, flatly refusing to play by the rules.

"Elizabeth," Janice ignored the protest from below and flipped through her notes. "Can you tell me about the day Neal broke his wrist?"

Neal moaned and collapsed on the floor in a heap of theatrics. "Always with the wrist!"

El also paid no attention to the teenager stretched out at her feet. In her head she had already begun to recall the day from hell.

-W-C-

"Coming!" El ran up from the basement upon hearing the doorbell and jogged over to the front door. She was surprised to see Diana as Peter wasn't home from work yet.

"Hi Diana, come on in. Everything okay?" El added the last part after observing the concerned look on the agent's face.

"Elizabeth, no one is badly hurt but there has been an accident. I'm here to take you to the hospital." Diana reached out to catch Elizabeth as her legs buckled under her feet.

"Peter or Neal?" El asked once she finally found some strength.

"Both."

-W-C-

"Peter, you can't be carrying him with your injuries." El admonished quietly. It was 2am and she didn't want to wake the neighbours.

"Honey, if you can wake him, then fine. But they gave him something pretty strong at the hospital and I'm not leaving him in the car overnight!"

El realising that the boy was totally out to it and not responding at all to the noise or movement, finally conceded. "Fine. But don't rip your stitches. I do not want to have to pay another visit to the hospital tonight."

"Don't worry, I'll be careful." Peter hoisted the young boy into his arms and followed El through the door and upstairs to the spare bedroom. He placed him down carefully on top of the covers and removed his shoes. El returned shortly with a clean set of pyjamas and the two set about changing the boy from his dishevelled attire into more suitable sleeping apparel.

Knowing that there was no chance that Peter would be sleeping tonight, El offered, "I'll go put us on a cuppa."

"Thanks hon." Peter sat on the edge of his son's bed running his hand over the freshly cast wrist that was sticking out from under the blanket. Peter felt a tear escape from the corner of his eye and splatter directly onto the snow white surface of the plaster. He brushed away the liquid only to have it replaced by another splatter. Eventually, Peter gave up on trying to stem the tears and simply moved the cast out of the line of teardrops. When El returned five minutes later, the agent was all but sobbing into his hands.

"Hey, hon. Careful. The doctor said you can't get the bandage wet." El obtained a towel from somewhere close and helped Peter dry his face and bandaged hand. She sat on the edge of the bed beside her husband and pulled him in for a warm embrace. "It's going to be okay sweetie. We'll get help and plus… we'll build a dungeon in the basement and never let him out again." Peter smiled at that thought and considered it to be a very good suggestion.

"Come on. He's not going anywhere for a while." El indicated the sleeping child who was oblivious to all the activity in the room. Whatever they had given him at the hospital, El could sure use some herself.

Peter began to follow El but stopped to pick something up off the writing desk. "Hold on." He walked back to the bed and knelt by the side. Peter scribbled something on the new cast then joined his wife in the hallway while at the same time considering if dungeons were legal.

-W-C-

Neal had sat back up while listening to his mom talk and was now leaning against the spare arm chair.

"So, Neal, your dad was the first to sign the cast?"

"Yes."

"Have you signed it Elizabeth?"

"Yes. Mine's the one with the message inside the baby seal."

"And we know that Ms Belding signed it. Who else Neal?"

"Mozzie, Clinton and Diana, Agent Hughes. Dr Bryant signed it when I went for a check up."

"Who wrote JEE?"

"That was Jerry, Eleana and Emmy."

"So all you friends and family have signed your cast Neal?"

"Yes."

"What about Kate?"

"Not sure."

"Did Kate sign your cast?"

Neal simply shrugged.

Janice persisted. "If you're not sure, why don't you have a look."

Neal sighed deeply. "This is such a waste of time!"

"Then let's move it along Neal. Did Kate sign your cast?"

"No!" The word was all but spat out of the teenager's mouth.

"Why not?"

"I don't know. Maybe she didn't have a chance." Neal stood up and started pacing as predicted.

"Why not Neal?"

"She's pretty busy these days."

"But you went to the movies with her and she was at the park with you when you crashed your bike and well you spent a whole day looking around the MET at the Late European Post Impressionists Exhibit. Are you trying to tell me in all that time she never once had an opportunity to pick up a pen and scribble her name on your cast?"

"NO! She didn't! Why can't you understand?" Neal kicked at the spare chair with uncontrolled fury and the seat went flying across the room, tumbling side over side till it finally rested against the far wall.

Janice gave a signal for Peter and El to hold their positions and continued in her efforts to break through to the troubled teen. "No, I can't understand why Agent Hughes has signed your cast and not one of your best friends. Why didn't she sign it?"

"I don't know Janice!" Neal's face was an angry shade of red as he yelled at the top of his voice.

"Yes you do Neal. Why didn't Kate sign your cast?"

"Because she can't!" A lone tear escaped down the side of the young boy's cheek.

"Why can't she Neal?"

"Because," He threw an arm in his dad's direction… "Agent Burke killed her!"

-W-C-

Peter pulled up at a set of lights and glanced at the bundle of trouble taking up the passenger seat. Couldn't the boy be just a little easier? He didn't need him to be perfect but was there ever any hope of having the child stick to the usual teenage shenanigans of lighting firecrackers when the parents weren't looking or having a fist fight with a best friend? That he could handle. But all this business with Kate and Fowler and guns and stolen property, he wasn't sure how much he could take. Was one small boy really capable of breaking the resolve of a highly skilled FBI Agent? Peter was snapped out of his short slide towards self-pity when he heard a message come through on Neal's phone. He'd meant to confiscate that back at the bureau.

Neal flipped open the cell and read the text.

"Give me that." Peter reached across to grab the phone but Neal pulled it out of reach. "Neal! Give me the phone right now!" The agent was down to zero tolerance and Peter reasoned that Neal was going to be one sorry little boy when they got home. Peter had another snatch at the phone, this time with more success.

Neal though, no longer needed the cell. He had all the information he needed filed away in his head. While Peter was momentarily distracted with the message, Neal reached for the handle, opened the door and sprung out into the peak hour traffic.

Peter couldn't tell if he was more shocked by Neal actions or from the text message he held in his hand.

'Help Pip. Fowler going 2 kill me less u come. 20mins. Hanger 5 by Hudson. Kate'

-W-C-

The Taurus lurched in and out of lanes, siren blaring, making slow progress in the peak hour traffic. Peter considered at what point it would be faster to just abandon the car and chase after his son on foot. Fortunately, he'd been able to grab the phone to find out his destination, otherwise he'd be relying on the tracking anklet, and that would take time he couldn't afford.

Peter screeched to a halt at the old vacant hangers beside the river. He had no idea if Neal had already arrived. The boy had been travelling on foot but had probably been able to move as fast as the agent who'd been caught up in a grid-lock. Peter removed his gun from the holster and began scouting the area on foot but there were no signs of Kate, Garry or his wayward son.

The agent stood, running his hands through his air working out which way to head when from out of nowhere, Neal came barrelling out of the empty building behind him looking exhausted and frantic. The boy was startled to see his dad but didn't have time to stop for pleasantries. He began to make a move to race off to the next hanger but was partly collared by Agent Burke. "Neal! Stop!"

The boy lost his footing as he felt a tight tug on the back of his shirt and went rolling to the ground. Peter lost his grip and made another attempt to restrain the youngster. But Neal was on a mission and his survival instincts had kicked in, Kate's survival. The kid dodged Peter's hand and sprung back to his feet and before Peter had so much as taken one step, the kid was well out of arms reach. Neal raced across the bitumen surface well aware that one frantic father was bearing down fast.

The teenager could hear a motor of a car running in the distance and made a bee line for the first sign of life in the area. He rounded a corner and spotted a black sedan at the end of a very long corridor which was split in two by a ten foot wire fence. Neal picked up his pace. He could all but hear Peter breathing down his neck. He reached the fence and flung himself up and over like it was a small garden hedge. Peter knew he'd need a lot more time to complete the same task, time he couldn't afford so he barrelled into the gate on the side with his shoulder, busting the rusted chain lock with one blow, along with possibly every bone in his left arm. The strategic move having positioned him within an arms length of the boy. If only he could make a fraction more gain, he'd be able to snag his prize. But at the same time, they were closing in on the car at the end of the alley. Peter could see a figure sitting in the front seat tapping on the window. It was Kate and for sure it was a set up. This wasn't going to end well. Peter had to close this operation down right now. Giving it everything he had, he took a final leap forward, landing on the back of Neal's shoulders and brought them both crashing to the ground. Peter never heard the sound of several bones cracking somewhere along Neal's arm, nor his cries for Kate. The boy's screams of pain were consumed entirely by the horrific sounds of the car at the end of the alley exploding into a ball of fire and smoke. Peter wrapped his body as much as he could to protect his son from the flying pieces of burning metal as they hurled through the air in all directions. The agent didn't bother noting the number of places he was hit with debris, everything he cared about was safely tucked underneath his own body.

-W-C-

Peter ran his hand through his son's hair. The young boy had made his way over to the couch as Peter recounted how close he came to losing his son and was now lying stretched out with his back against his dad and his legs dangling over the arm of the couch.

"Neal, did your dad kill Kate?" It was blunt but Janice was needing the boy to face up to his demons.

"No Janice." His voice was so despondent, the doctor could barely hear him.

"Then why would you say that Neal?"

The teenager lifted his feet off the couch and went to stand up but his dad still held him around the chest. "I don't know." Neal put a hand up to his eyes and rubbed, possibly hoping to erase a memory. "I…I have this thing in my head. I keep dreaming about it."

"What's it about Neal?" Janice leaned forward and gestured with her hands for him to continue.

"It's confusing, Janice because it's all fuzzy in my head."

"Okay, then why don't you just tell us the little snippets you remember."

"I remember running, and I remember Dad coming after me. He was trying to rescue me and then he shot someone… Kate I think."

"Neal…How did you break your wrist."

Neal began to cry, "I don't remember, Janice."

"Yes you do. You were running, Dad was chasing you and…"

"Kate was close and then Dad tackled me to the ground and … I reached out with my hand to stop from smashing into the bitumen as he landed on top of me and I felt the bones in my wrist snap."

"And did your dad shoot Kate?"

"Er…I'm not sure. I think so…But I remember being held down…Ah…I remember an explosion but no, I don't remember Dad shooting. There was too much fire, it was hot and loud and the smoke made it hard to breath."

"How did Kate die, Neal?"

"She's not dead Janice." Tears were flowing freely from the teenager's eyes.

"How did she die, Neal?"

Neal shook his head hoping to somehow make his own statement real. Eventually he looked at his mom, across to Janice and then twisted his head to look up at his dad. Peter nodded. "Come on, son. What happened to Kate?"

The boy curled back up against his dad. "She died in the explosion." The cries turned to sobs and Neal lay for a long time next to his parents weeping .

-W-C-

"You still having the dream, Peter?"

"Kind of. It's not as bad and it's not as frequent."

"Tell me, in the dream you're having now, do you catch him?"

Peter nodded. "But it's still a very frightening thought to consider how I almost didn't."

"I think you'll find over time, you'll accept that although it was a terrifying experience, everything turned out okay in the end. Give it a little while and we'll see if you're still having trouble sleeping a few weeks from now." Janice closed up her book and removed the glasses from her face. "Any news on Garry Fowler?"

"Nope. He's pretty much gone off the grid. I've got a team working on it round the clock though so hopefully we'll get a lead soon. There's evidently more to the story and others involved but I won't rest till I get to the bottom of it."

"Well maybe just a little rest... Here's a novel idea, why don't you try some of those relaxation pills I prescribed for you? You'll be no good to the family suffering from chronic sleep deprivation."

Peter gave Janice a small smile but did not commit. "What about Neal? What's next?"

"Obviously, we have a little way to go but after this week, he's finally going to start getting better. I expect the nightmares will gradually decrease in intensity and life should return to..._normal_ in the Burke house over the next couple of weeks."

Peter gave the doctor a knowing look.

"I'll need to see him for a few more visits. We need to sort out his acceptance of you shooting Matthew Keller." Peter shifted in his chair. "Seems he remembers some, but not enough to work out what's going on in his head. He's blocked out a lot of the memories as a way of coping with a very traumatic event and the wires got crossed and pretty much fried when his mind also had to handle watching Kate die in the explosion. The issue of Keller however will be a lot easier to come to terms with than accepting and dealing with Kate's death."

"So what do El and I need to do?"

"What you always do, Peter. Love him, support him, and start construction of that dungeon in the basement as soon as humanly possible."


	13. Chapter 13

**Author's Note:** I feel like Flat Stanley posting this final chapter. It's been a fun ride mostly in part to all the amazing readers who left kind, thoughtful and inspirational reviews for this story. Once again, it's been immensely enjoyable arriving home from work, switching on the computer and tuning into all your thoughts and comments over the past couple of weeks. And now sadly, all I can look forward to in my inbox are a small selection of mundane messages from the autoclub and ToysRUs. I know – write another! Certainly I found a sequel to be far more difficult to write than an original having used up all the good ideas, keeping the continuity of the first and above all else, living up to expectations. So thanks so much for your continued support throughout the telling of this tale. I've got a couple of ideas in my heard for part 3 – My Mom Elizabeth - it's a long way off so for now please enjoy…

**MY DAD PETER - EPILOGUE**

"Have a seat, Neal."

The young boy padded quietly across the floor and sat on the couch opposite the doctor. He removed his satchel and placed it on the floor.

"How have you been?" Janice inquired in her best motherly tone.

"Alright, I guess," Neal replied quietly.

"How has your arm been holding up?"

"I had a check up through the week. They said the fracture had healed nicely but I've got to continue with the exercises for a little while yet."

"That's probably to be expected." Janice found it hard to believe it was the same child for which she had to use every trick in her little instruction manual to gain even the slightest bit of compliancy. The new Neal was well-mannered, straightforward but sadly lacking the spunk of the boy who had kept her on her toes during the past couple of months. Janice wasn't overly concerned however. Neal had a loving family and was surrounded by people who would see to it that the teenager would keep his chin up, pull up his socks and carry on happily in the day to day adventures of a fourteen year old. Life would not leave this one behind. "Do you have plans for the weekend?"

"Jerry and I are going to the movies."

"What are you going to see?"

Neal shrugged. "I don't know. Jerry is going to choose."

"Just the two of you?"

"Maybe. I think he might ask Eleana and Emmy. I don't know."

"Do you think _you_ could give Emmy a call and ask them out. Be a nice surprise for Jerry if he doesn't have to do all the leg work."

"I suppose."

"Neal?"

"Yes."

"Are you still having bad dreams?"

"Not really." Neal looked down at the carpet and spoke softly. "But during the day I still think about it a lot."

"What do you think about the most?"

Neal shrugged yet again.

"Neal?"

The young boy hopped up and walked over to the window. He put his hands on the sill and leaned his forehead against the glass pane. "I think about her. Some days I can't get her out of my head."

"What sort of things come to mind when you think about her?"

"Everything."

"Give me an example."

Neal turned around and folded his arms. Janice caught the tears in his eyes before he lowered his head. "I think of how she made me happy. I think of the awesome times we had running cons and living a life of exhilarating thrills and forbidden adventures. I think about how much she loved me drawing and painting for her. I think of her missing me during the time she was sent away…. . I think of how she made me feel important and special." The tears were flowing fully and Neal hadn't realised that Janice had left her seat to walk over to the young boy. When he finally looked up, she was standing next to him.

Janice put a caring arm around his shoulder. "It's okay to say it, Neal. This is the place to say it."

Neal leaned in against the doctor and began to cry softly. "I miss her Janice. I miss Kate. I wish she wasn't gone. I want her to come back."

"She won't be coming back Neal, but no one can ever take those memories away." The doctor pulled the young boy back so she could see his face. "It's good to remember her. Draw pictures of her. Talk to your parents about her. Reminisce about all those good times."

"But it makes me feel so hollow inside."

"Yes, for now. But each day will get a little better and eventually you'll be able to think about Kate without feeling empty. And sometime in the future, you'll find you can talk about her and joke about the things you did together. But that's not going to happen straight away. It's not supposed to happen quickly. Your mind will work through it at its own pace. And some days will be worse but you can always talk to your mom and dad and you can call me anytime you like." She gave the teenager a caring pat on the shoulder. "Do you understand, Neal?"

"Yes, Doctor Murphy."

"Good. Come and sit back down and tell me what's been happening at home."

Neal followed the doctor back to the chairs and slouched heavily into the thick black leather of the couch. It was way more comfortable than the floor. "Dad and I are going camping next month with Jerry and his dad."

"Fantastic, Neal. I didn't know that either you or your dad were outdoorsmen."

Neal laughed and Janice was delighted to see a genuine smile coming from the teenager. "I can tell you now quite succinctly doctor, an outdoorsman I am not. Dad took me fishing last year and well, let's just say mom was lucky to have her son returned home after Peter came close to tossing me overboard."

"I find that hard to believe."

"Ah Janice, was that a little sarcasm I detected in your tone?"

"No Neal. I can't even in my wildest imagination believe that anyone would consider tossing you over the side of a boat."

"Not that I believe you for a second but anyway, Dad likes the outdoors and he used to love fishing, apparently he was pretty good at it."

"Used to love fishing? What happened?" Janice was enjoying having a regular conversation with the boy who had momentarily forgotten his worries.

"Well the day he took me fishing, his opinion of the sport altered drastically and I quote, 'If I never see another fishing rod again in my whole life, it will be too soon.'"

"What did you do, Neal?"

"Ah Janice, so quick to take the side of the older generation. Don't you think there's even a slight possibility that Dad was responsible for the unpleasant experience?"

"Not even for a microsecond. What did you do, Neal?"

"Fine. I'll save you from all the gory details but I somehow managed to get a fishing hook through Dad's arm."

"Ouch. No wonder he's not too keen to try fishing again anytime soon."

"Excepting he was quite happy to continue after that. Said that it happens to everyone at some point and he'd been very lucky up to now so he was probably due for the mishap. So he pulled the hook out back through his skin and returned the rod to me."

"Sounds like a happy ending, why the vow to give fishing away for life?"

"Well, when I cast it the second time, somehow I managed, and I honestly have no idea how I did this, somehow, I managed to catch the hook on his knee cap."

"Oh my! That sounds awfully painful."

"Yes it was, and he said so in some not very nice words that I will not repeat in front of a lady."

"I appreciate that Neal. And that's when he decided to hang up his rod."

"No, Dad's nothing if not persistent. He told me he probably should have been wearing long pants and it was rotten luck that I'd missed the water on both attempts. He'd never heard of it happening twice to anyone before. One of those 'one in a million' things. So he pulled out the hook, while adding a few more of those nasty words under his breath and once again handed me the rod."

"Okay. So I'm guessing that last move there, when he handed you back the rod, that was his biggest mistake?" Janice winched, not sure she wanted to hear the end of this tale.

"Yeah, you'd think someone of his superior intelligence would have learnt. I mean, I'd missed the water on both attempts, at this point, he probably should have pulled the plug, cut his loses and tried to bond with me over something far safer…"

"Like table tennis?"

"Yes, exactly. But no, Dad insisted I have one more try."

"Where did you get him Neal?" Janice didn't really want to know, but just for the record, she needed to ask, after all, she was only human!

"I…arr…."

"Where Neal?"

"I…It caught him through his ear." Neal grimaced as he answered, remembering how painful it had looked. The hook had gone clear though and had come out the other side. Peter had to have the doctor remove it by cutting off the barbed end.

"Oh dear me, you _were_ lucky not to be kicked overboard. Poor Peter. So I take it there won't be any fishing on this particular camping trip?"

"Highly unlikely Janice."

"Well one can only hope you have better luck at building fires and trekking through the woods. Don't go getting lost."

"I'm pretty sure getting lost is something that most people don't do intentionally so telling them not to get lost is kind of along the lines of telling someone not to have an accident."

"I see your point, Neal. How about then, take care, after all, I'd hate to lose one of my favourite clients."

"Why thank you doctor." Neal sat up on the couch and leaned forward, a mischievous sparkle in his eyes. "I have some good news, Janice."

"What is it Neal?"

"Have a guess."

"Let's see. You've won an art award for your painting of the Federal Plaza Fountain."

"No. But that's still a possibility."

"Okay then. You've been recruited by the White Collar Division to work as their chief sketch artist?"

"No. Although that's a very good suggestion. I don't know why I haven't talked Dad into hiring me. Last time I worked there it was slave labour!"

"Mmmm. I'm running out of ideas. You did say it was good news?" Neal nodded

"It's very good news, very unexpected news."

"Oh come on. You'll have to tell me now."

"Well…my mom is going to have a baby."

Janice raised her eyebrows. "Another one?" She had the medical background of both Peter and Elizabeth so this revelation came as quite a surprise.

"Are you insinuating, Doctor Murphy that my parents already have a baby?" It was asked in good humour.

"Never. A baby you are not, young man."

Neal's smile grew wider with that complement regardless of its genuine intent. "So you're not going to ask how it's possible?"

"I wanted to but I was being polite. However, since you are offering, how is it possible? I was under the impression your dad was unable to procreate."

"Well that's a rather professional way of putting it but…I'm not too sure, I didn't want to know the icky details but something about the condition he has reversing sometimes. It's incredibly rare for it to happen. I didn't hear what percentage but it was so minute Dad never even considered it a possibility."

"Wow, that's amazing. Perhaps you played a part in it."

"How so, Janice?"

"Well, Peter never thought he'd be a dad so his body accepted that idea and then you came along and those little messages in his brain got tossed out the window."

"That's an interesting line of thought. I wonder if that works with other brain signals?" Neal gazed at the far wall, suddenly deep in thought.

"The mind works in mysterious ways young Neal."

"Yeah. Certainly does Janice."

"So when is your mom due?"

"The baby is due at Christmas."

"A perfect time for miracles. Your parents are very lucky, young man."

"That much is certain." Neal chuckled.

"Many couples find the chance to have just one child elusive. Your parents are going to be blessed a second time around."

"Thanks, Janice." Neal smiled into the eyes of the caring woman. "Today is my last visit."

"For now."

"I'd like to tell you I'm going to miss coming here…"

"But we both know it would be a load of bull."

"Actually, I was going to be honest and say I'm going to miss coming here like a hole in the head."

They both laughed together. It was the first time.

Neal hopped off the couch and picked up his satchel. He stepped over to the doctor, leant down and gave her a kiss on her cheek. "I'll see you around, Janice."

"Take Care, Neal."

Janice watched the young boy walk out the door. Her office would make a follow-up visit for six months down the track. Many clients passed up on the follow-up thinking it was a little unnecessary if they were no longer having issues. She was fairly certain it wouldn't be the last time she'd see the young boy for one reason or another. The doctor walked back to her desk and was very surprised to see a gift sitting atop her personal papers. The gift had not been there earlier and Neal hadn't been anywhere near her desk. Intrigued she unwrapped the box. Inside was a card and a beautiful drawing. Janice sat down holding the picture in amazement. It was a sketch of her, sitting in her chair, legs crossed, glasses in one hand, note book in the other looking kindly towards the window. She appeared thoughtful and wise and the likeness was stunning. Janice considered it to be one of the most considerate gifts anyone had ever given her. The boy was truly a phenomenon.

Janice put down the drawing and opened the card. She smiled as she read…

Dear Janice,

Thank you for helping me work out some problems. I'm sorry if at times I may have given you a teeny bit of hard time. All things considered, if anyone had to take me through the mess in my head, I'm glad it was you. If you are ever near the Bayside Art College please call in to say hello.

Lots of love Neal. xxx

P.S. You may not know it by the way I was able to keep it from you so well, but I was worried about a very important person in my life so thank you also for bringing back his smile and helping…my dad, Peter.


End file.
